


Turn Your Eyes

by OldAmsterdam



Category: Parahumans Series - Wildbow
Genre: Character Development, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Nonbinary Character, Other, Revenge, Trans Character, oc fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2020-10-18 14:23:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 46,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20640632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OldAmsterdam/pseuds/OldAmsterdam
Summary: Welcome to Pixie Hollow, a quaint little town filled with hicks and deadbeats in the middle of bumfuck-nowhere.  With little to do to except drugs and repeating the day to day monotony, most of the excitement comes from the frequent cape fights and the brand new PRT Headquarters build just on the edge of town.  Oh, and those rumors of the Beast of the Woods if you believe them.Besides that, though?  It's just life as usual for everyone else.So what happens when one young woman stuck in a rut finds the most explosive way out of that rut?  Everything is up for change, and she'll do whatever it takes to make those changes.  Right after she gets her revenge...





	1. Lost in Echoes 1.01

**Turn Your Eyes**

_Lost in Echoes 1.01_

I awoke to darkness. The only illumination came from the subtle glow of the LEDs in my alarm clock, and I fumbled around the nightstand for my phone as it buzzed. Rubbing the blurriness from my eyes, I raised an eyebrow when I saw the time. Who was trying to get ahold of me so desperately at three fifteen in the morning? I swear to god, if it was Becky trying to talk to me about the latest fucking cape bullshit, I was going to strangle her the next time I saw her. How many times did I have to tell her not to bother me with that shit before she got the hint?

Fucking hell. I half hoped that it was just a wrong number. I couldn't imagine why anyone would be sending so many messages otherwise.

Unless something had happened to Mom.

That thought pushed me to full alertness as I put in my passcode.

_ Unknown Number _

_I can help you._

_I know what you're looking for._

_You want your problem gone?_

_Of course you do._

_Never have to be like that again._

_Make you real._

_No money, just a favor._

_Not illegal, promise._

_Just show up if you want it._

_Want to be normal._

_Baker's Warehouse._

_Today. Before 7._

_Ask the bouncer for the Distillery._

_He'll hook you up._

_Tell 'em Brewer sent ya._

I blinked at the words for a moment before darting to the window. Outside of my little apartment window I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary, but a sense of uneasy paranoia was slowly building. How had this person gotten my number? Was I being followed or stalked? I couldn't think of anything weird or noticeable happening lately. It was all the same, day in and day out, a boring blend of reminders that my life had run into a wall the day I graduated college.

Or maybe it was just spam? Normally those were calls though, and they didn’t usually include local places. Especially not a local place that had been an abandoned warehouse retrofitted into a kind of club and hot spot. So, probably not spam.

Which meant that it had to be cape shit again. It was always cape shit.

I collapsed back onto the bed, running a hand through my hair as I looked at my phone. If there was one thing I'd learned it was that capes were bullshit. The second was that if a cape wanted me, they would've already gotten me. The only way I could think of for why this cape was contacting me was that either someone had blabbed about my questions or that they'd tracked me down through my online posts.

I wasn’t sure which was worse.

Or maybe they really were offering a solution to my problem. I’d been putting out feelers to the less than legal places in town to see if anyone could help me. Maybe someone had passed on word and they’d decided to help? To finally get what I had dreamed of for so long, but at the hands of a cape? Was that something that I could live with?

My gaze turned to my hands as I slowly turned them around, watching the shadows play across the surface of my skin. So much work just to get this far, and no hope of going further. Not without help. But could I, should I, accept help from a _cape_ of all things?

It's not like capes had done a damn good thing in my life. They had pushed my job sector into irrelevance, there were gang-related disturbances in town nightly, and, hell, superpowered-Nazis were taking a chunk of the eastern seaboard. They were always at the heart of the problem, and the so called heroes weren't much better than the villains.

But… Well, I couldn't deny the fact that finally not having to worry about how I fit into the world would be a massive weight off of my shoulders. To never have to deal with that feeling of being so innately _wrong _floating over my head? That alone would be worth it. Finally having something go right could be the kickstart I needed to get out of this town. And then I could have a fresh start where no one knew me, where my past wouldn’t haunt me every single day.

I stood up suddenly, walking to flip the light switch and open my closet as I came to a decision. Tossing clothes behind me onto the bed I wondered if I was making a mistake before deciding to push the doubt out of my mind. I had to do this. I didn’t know if someone had leaked my situation or if the cape had no sense of privacy in scouting me, but did it really matter in the end? As long as no one was after me it couldn’t be that bad, right? I’d worked hard to make sure that the wrong people didn’t learn about me.

My phone stared back at me from the nightstand as I got dressed quickly, the slow and steady pulsing glow of a full charge giving me something to center myself with. I could do this. Stuffing my phone in my pocket along with my wallet, I nabbed the house keys on my way out and locked the door behind me as I stepped into the brisk night air. Streetlights, starlight, and the moon were the only things to turn their bright gaze my way as I started walking at a brisk pace.

With one hand on my phone in case of an emergency, I mentally mapped out the best way to get to Baker’s Warehouse. It wasn’t a terribly far walk, a mile or two if I had to guess. I could still remember when it had been a storage building for one of the local mines, back before tinkers had made the owner nearly bankrupt and forced him out of town. Fucking tinkers, and all capes for that matter, thinking they could just do what they want.

I didn’t see a soul as I made my way across town, which wasn’t surprising given how late it was, but I couldn’t help but note how eerie it was to see everything so dark and quiet. As I got closer to my destination, however, I noticed that people were still out and about. A few drunks passed out at the bus stop, some girl dancing to the sound of nothing in the dirt parking lot, and a line waiting to get into the building itself. The bouncer, even from across the parking lot, looked absolutely massive. For a second I hesitated, feeling like maybe I should just go back home and forget this silly business. But then the bouncer looked over my way, slowly looking me up and down before jerking his head in the universal sign for “come here.”

_This is crazy, this is crazy, this is crazy_, I thought to myself as I started walking over, cutting the line, and found myself face to face with someone easily two feet taller than I was and twice as wide at least. His arms looked like they could be as big as my torso, and I could imagine that if he felt like it he could literally break me in half with his bare hands. As the line started to erupt with complaints he held up a hand to silence them as he looked down at me.

“You lost, ma’am?” he asked in a thunderous voice. “I can call a ride if you need one.”

“Uhm, actually, I was told to meet someone here. Or come here, I mean. Something about the, uh, Distillery,” I said quietly, trying to ignore the stares of the line. “Said to tell you that, uh, Brewer sent me?”

He stared at me for what had to be a full minute before nodding once and pushing open the door next to him and pulling a lanyard out of his back pocket. Putting the lanyard over my hood, he guided me much more gently than expected into the hallway beyond the doorway. “Downstairs. Enjoy your stay, ma’am,” he instructed me, pulling the door shut behind me.

Inside the building it was almost as dark as it had been outside, dull red lights lining the walls of the hallway. The hallway opened up into a large, expansive room full of people dancing and lights flashing, fog flowing over the floor lazily, a purple haze moving along people’s feet as they kicked it around, spewing from a machine behind the bar in the center of the room. I stood still in the entryway, partially in shock and partially from anxiety at the amount of people, amazed at how utterly loud it was in here. In the far corner of the room I saw a neon sign, glowing letters forming an arrow.

Well, I’d found the Distillery at least. I just had to find my way across the room without attracting a lot of attention and I’d be fine. Or I could just turn around and leave the way I had come. It would be easy, simple, and all it would cost me is never knowing if this was my way out. After all, there was a chance it wasn’t even a cape and just some weeb or something thinking code names were cool for non-capes. As if having a fancy name was a good thing when it meant people would consider you a cape of all things.

Okay, I was stalling. Just one foot forward, one step at a time, keep my head down, and I could do this. I had to do this. Pushing forward, I weaved through the bodies on the outskirts of the room towards the stairwell, my heart pounding in my chest more and more violently as I got closer.

Looking down the stairs, I saw another bouncer guarding a door with a green glow poking out from beneath it. I took a deep breath and set off down the stairs slowly, keeping a hand trailing on the railing, and came to a stop in front of the bouncer. Where did this place find guys so big? I couldn’t think of anyone in town who was so absolutely massive, let alone two of them.

“Lanyard,” he said gruffly, holding out his hand. With trembling hands, I pulled it back over my head and set it in his grasp. He stepped aside — apparently, I got the honor of opening this door myself — and I mumbled a quiet thanks before entering into the unknown.

I found myself rooted in place on the other side of the door as a verifiable lab greeted me. Beakers, incubators, centrifuges, safety cabinets, and fume hoods, an HPLC, microtomes, cryostats, microscope, and was that a mass spectrometer? This place was decked out full of equipment that I hadn’t seen since my college days. How did they set this up? Some of this stuff was expensive, let alone the fact that I didn’t think you could just buy half of these things. Unless you could on the black market or something.

“You must be Kali,” a smooth voice said from my right. I flinched, eyes following the sound, and I could feel my blood run cold. That had to be a cape, no one in their right mind would ever wear something so gaudy and ridiculous. With flasks filled with liquids all over their body and some kind of modified lab coat and goggles covering his body and face it was like some kind of cheesy science horror film. “I’m the Brewer. I’m glad that you came promptly.”

“I want to know what you know and how you got my number,” I demanded, wincing internally at the shakiness of my voice.

“You don’t ask the kind of questions you were without me finding out. You want to change your body and can’t afford the normal ways. That’s fine. Because changing bodies is my specialty. No scars either, no downtime to heal, just a few hours of your time,” he said offhandedly as he moved around machines that I didn’t recognize to stand a few feet in front of me.

“Yeah? And what’s it going to cost me?”

“Precious little. You see, not all of my work is permanent. When I am developing something new, for example, the tests are always made to be temporary. No permanent changes that someone doesn’t want, just testing to see if things are at the perfect levels needed to make the perfect mixture. All I ask in return is that you allow me to run a few extra tests after you get what you want.”

I bit back the urge to tell him to test it on himself and fuck off. If he was telling the truth…

“How do I know I can trust you?” I asked hesitantly.

“You saw the bouncers. They’re my handiwork. Wanted to be big and strong, and so that’s what I made them. I imagine there’s not a person without powers alive who could beat them in a strength contest.” He sounded a little indignant at my question. Pride in his work, perhaps? Or did he just not like being questioned?

“How many experiments?”

“I’m sorry?” He looked up from where he was messing with one of the machines, his tone distracted.

“How many experiments for me to get what I want?”

“Just a few. It’ll feel like no time at all, I promise.”

“And I’d be real, finally? Forever?” I hated the longing in my voice, the desire in my chest, and I unconsciously stepped forward.

“Forever, Kali, I swear it. I wouldn’t be able to have any customers if I couldn’t keep my word.”

“What do I need to do?”

He gestured for me to follow him into a side room filled with more machines I didn’t recognize and a lone operating table. It was a little bright, and I could smell disinfectants in the air.

At least it was clean.

“Lie down. You’re going to be awake the whole time, but I’m going to bind your limbs for your own safety. From all the tests this one is...a little painful,” he said slowly. “When the pain stops you’ll biologically be a girl, all the way down to your genes. You’ll never have to worry about it again. Now’s your last chance to change your mind. You’re free to walk away still.”

“No. I need this. I need to not hurt anymore, to not have to second guess being myself.”

“Alright then. Say goodbye to the past, Kali, and welcome the future,” Brewer said softly as he put leather straps around my wrists, ankles, and forehead. I shivered at the cold table beneath me as I stared up at the ceiling before he pushed something leather-tasting in my mouth.

Suddenly I felt a sharp prick in the crook of my right arm followed by a feeling like frozen fire running up into me before I could begin to wonder what the thing in my mouth was for. The feeling spread out until I felt like my entire body was burning, and I suddenly was grateful for something other than my tongue to bite down on as my muffled screams filled the room. I felt my body _break_ and shift, my heart beating fast enough that I was sure it was going to explode, and everything felt wrong. So much worse than I felt every single day when I saw any part of my reflection.

And then the pain really started. I’d heard people describe what it felt like to be stabbed, and that was the closest thing I could think of to describe what I felt. Like every cell in my body was being perforated at the same time, over and over and over again. My nails dug at the metal table beneath me and I closed my eyes as tears started to flow.

I was going to die. I knew it. There was no way that I couldn’t. This cape had lied to me and he was killing me and there was nothing I could do about it.

My last thought before darkness took me was that at least I wouldn’t have to be afraid anymore.

\------------------

This project has been a long time coming! I’ve been planning and tweaking this story since mid-last 2018, using my other projects as stepping stones to improve my writing until I felt that I was able to do this story justice.  
  
As always, thank you to everyone who gives this a read, a like, or a comment. It means the world to me to get to share something that matters so much to me.  
  
And, of course, this wouldn’t be possible without help from the wonderful people who were willing to beta this chapter. [@zenithBemusement](https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/members/23834/), [@Mondrae205](https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/members/27513/), @Vilheim, an anonymous Beta, [@radiorobot](https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/members/15497/).  
  
Again, thank you to everyone who steps on this journey with me, and here’s to more to come!


	2. Lost in Echoes 1.02

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens when you get everything you asked for at the one low price of your dignity?

**Turn Your Eyes**   
_Lost in Echoes 1.02_

I came back to consciousness screaming, my throat raw and my mouth slick with the taste of copper. I could feel _everything_ from my body, from how tense my muscles were to the chill of the metal beneath me, to the blood pulsing through my veins. Breathing heavily, I spat out the chunk that was miraculously still in my mouth and stretched my fingers.

“How do you feel?"

My eyes darted to the figure at my feet. Brewer, holding a clipboard, and sounding more animated than he had in our earlier conversations. It took me a few moments to get my voice to work again, and when I began to talk, I had to stop myself after the first two words, the foreign sound coming from my mouth surprising me into silence.

It was different. I was used to having to work at how I sounded, to make myself sound right, but the voice that came to my ears was everything I had ever worked towards, everything I'd ever hoped for.

“Different. I can feel everything,” I finally answered. “I feel great.”

“Good. Pain? Side effects besides this hypersensitivity?”

“No, no, nothing. Everything feels amazing. It feels...right.”

He made a humming sound, his pen scribbling for a few moments. “I’d offer a mirror, but there’ll be time for that later.”

“You mean we’re going straight into these other tests?” I asked incredulously.

“Of course. It’s not like you need to heal or recuperate. And this is what you agreed to, remember?” He sounded distant, like I was just some rat in his maze or something. Did he just think he could do these kinds of things and it wouldn’t matter because he was greater than the borderline magic that he was performing?

“I mean, I did agree…” I said hesitantly. “Do I get to have these shackles removed for these tests of yours?”

“Eventually, yes. Once you’re no longer a threat.”

That was an odd choice of words, wasn’t it? I couldn’t shake the feeling that he wasn’t just talking about protecting me from myself. A nugget of doubt sprouted in my heart as I watched him move about the room out of the corner of my eyes. Had I made a huge mistake listening to his honeyed words, or was I overreacting?

For the first time in years I wondered if maybe my friends weren’t right about calling my hatred of capes crazy. I certainly felt crazy for having these suspicions when I was finally myself at long last. I could feel it, too, the subtle differences and the more obvious ones.

“You know, it’s always exciting to have firsts. I thought that it was magic when I made my first mixture. Y’know, before I realized I was a cape. And then I started thinking to myself, if I could make my dog big, red, and strong enough to crush cars in the junkyard before the serum reacted unexpectedly... What else could I do? So I started testing and making things, frantically at first, before I settled into a rhythm. So many firsts,” Brewer said in the silence. “For you that must be quite a thrill to be able to experience these first hand. I would, but I need to be impartial. I can’t let my creations cloud my own judgement. And so I had no other option except to find others. I still envy every single person I’ve given my mixtures to. I even envy you, right now. So many firsts and for me this is just another note in the book. Another face for the wall. Tell me, how does it feel to get exactly what you were asking for?”

I didn’t like the way that his voice was changing. It was less like a scientist and more like, well, a cape. It was almost like my family when they had rejected me, when they had jeered at me when my life started falling apart, disdain dripping through the words telling me I got exactly what I deserved. What I had been asking for.

Suddenly I was feeling much less confident that this had been a good decision. Bad memories being triggered were bad enough without the thoughts running through my head. Was he just going to kill me? Was this how he got his rocks off, tempting people with bliss and then dashing them against the walls until they died?

Would death be the best option here?

“Mhmm. I know it’s a bit to take in, but really now you’re being rude,” he snapped. “You’re acting like I just asked you what the square root of pi is. It’s one point seven seven two four five three eight — Oh, it’s not like you even care, do you? Of course you don’t. Do you even care about what this all means to me? To be able to create such wonderful things and for people to just act like I’m some kind of villain for giving people exactly what they ask for?”

“I didn’t — “

“Didn’t think? Didn’t know? They always say that, and honestly it’s a terrible excuse. As if that absolves you of your wrongs. Of course it doesn’t. So, I’ll ask again. How does it feel to get exactly what you asked for?”

Terrifying. I couldn’t say that though, not with how he was acting. I needed to give him an answer that would pacify him and maybe let me walk out of here without being some tinker’s punching bag.

“It’s pretty amazing,” I whispered. It struck me suddenly how different talking was. It had been effort before, constantly worrying about a crack or a relapse, constantly trying to maintain the right tone. But now it just felt like talking. Even as I could feel the physical differences, there were all these little differences that I could take months to get used to.

And it reminded me how utterly damned I felt right now.

“Of course it is,” he said with an irritated sigh. “Moving on, I’ve prepared four test mixtures. Depending on the results, you should be done before noon. And, again, no permanent effects. Tell me how you feel as it takes effect.”

“What’s it going to do?”

“That’s what we’re here to find out, aren’t we?”

“I thought you knew what they were supposed to do?”

“That doesn’t mean that’s what they’re going to do,” he said with a low laugh. I saw his shadow looming over me as he stepped closer, a syringe full of something blood red following a second later. “Just relax, it’ll be fine. Just do your part and you’ll be out of here in no time with everything you asked for.”

“Well, I did agree…”

No sooner had the words left my mouth than I felt the cool touch of leather against my neck. I felt a finger, perhaps a thumb, rub at the side of my neck before I felt the needle force its way into me. My eye twitched at the feeling,and I sucked in a breath as I felt something hot pour into me. It flowed like magma down through my limbs and body, a boiling heat growing within me, and I couldn’t hold back the groan that sprung forth.

“Good girl,” Brewer said with a rough pat on my cheek as he stepped back. “How’s it feel?”

“Hot,” I gasped out as I felt my toes curl by themselves. “But not a bad kind of hot.”

“What kind of hot?”

“Like there’s this volcano underneath my skin, just getting warmer and warmer until it bursts.”

“Good, I was curious how it would work with the transformation.”

“So you didn’t know what was going to happen?”

“Oh, no, I knew the expected results. I needed to know how it would work with the gender serum. I use this one quite frequently, but whenever I have something new I have to make sure that it will work with other serums, without complications,” he replied with a wry laugh. “I mean, the last thing I need is for Heartbeat to work incorrectly.”

Heartbeat? Something about the name sounded familiar, but I just couldn’t concentrate right now. I was so warm that I found my thoughts slipping into unfamiliar realms that were making me uncomfortable. What did he do to me? As if in response to my question I felt a kind of twinge resonate through my body.

“I see it’s setting in, judging by that flush to your cheeks.” He sounded cocky, almost, or was I just imagining it? How much of this was just in my head?

He wasn’t really that terrible of a person, even if he was a dirty cape, was he? He’d helped me out, after all, given me everything I’d ever wanted. And his outfit was kinda interesting, I had to admit.

“N-o.” I started at my own voice. When had I decided to speak? No? That didn’t make any sense, but it had made sense in the moment. A twinge practically vibrated up my body, causing me to close me eyes. I tried to swallow and found that my throat was dry, before I had to mentally remind myself to unlock my jaw.

What was going on with me? What was wrong with me?

My heart hitched as I felt my hair move. Brewer scoffed and I heard him mutter something as he scribbled furiously on his clipboard.

“Why am I so hot?” I asked as I felt another twinge, more vibrant than the others.

I felt the leather, blissfully cool to the touch and surprisingly smooth, slide along my neck again. A shiver ran along my skin at the touch and I felt my heart racing. What had I been thinking about? I had asked something, hadn’t I?

“Are you ready for the next test, Kali?” a voice asked me. It sounded smug, but not in a mean way. Almost like those confident kids at school who knew they were going to pass the test without even trying.

Oh, yeah. Test. I was supposed to be doing tests. I tried to nod and found that I couldn’t move my head. I looked around confused, but couldn't see what was holding my head still. Something about that felt like it should have alarmed me, but ultimately I pushed it out of my mind as a silly overreaction. I’d asked for this.

“Yeah,” I forced out around my dry mouth. A blurred shadow crossed in front of the light shining down on me and I felt something wet and sweet drop into my mouth. Greedily I consumed it, grateful for the liquid and the coolness that came with it. Relief from this burning under my skin. “More?”

“Heh, since you asked for it,” the voice said after a moment of silence before I felt my mouth filled halfway with relief.

I closed my eyes, relaxing as I felt the burning diminish in intensity, reaching up to rub at my face.

Something about the action felt wrong but I couldn’t put my finger on why. I tried to sit up before I remembered that my head was restrained. Why was that again?

I reached up, feeling some kind of strap, and fumbled around trying to find the latch. Several attempts later, I felt a pressure I hadn’t realized was there release, and I sat up slowly.

The room around me was tinted gray for some reason, making it hard to see anything, and I struggled to undo the restraints on my ankles before standing. Immediately I stumbled, grabbing the table-thing that I had been on to stop myself from falling. Looking around I couldn’t recognize any of the blocky objects around me, but I saw a door not too far away.

Why was there a door? Wasn’t I supposed to be doing something?

I grabbed my head as a spike of pain shot through it, lancing its way through my brain. I was supposed to do something for someone. Someone who had helped me. Was he through the door?

Step by step I staggered towards the door, nearly collapsing against it when I got to it, and I opened it after a few failed attempts to turn the knob. The next room was cluttered with alien objects which seemed to be moving before my eyes. I blinked and a figure appeared in front of me. A moment later and they flickered towards me, but even up close they were still a shadow. As they came to a stop I flinched, falling back against the door.

Hadn’t that been open a second ago?

“You’ll be a great test subject. You’re the first to get up so soon. I even gave you extra of Wavelength when you requested it. I suppose I’ll need to strengthen the formula if you’re able to get up after just an hour,” the shadow said as it inspected me. “Relatively responsive, even. Maybe a side effect of the first serum? Mhmm.”

“Serum?” I asked hopefully as I remembered the pleasant warmth and soothing chill that had washed over me previously. The shadow was talking about something that made my head hurt, but the serum had made everything better.

“Oh, there’ll be plenty more of those,” the shadow chuckled. It raised an arm, the fingers morphing into long blade-like protrusions that it used to caress my face. “I think you might be my new favorite.”

I blinked as my right arm started to spasm as something turned at the edge of my mind. A series of conflicting feelings broke through me before I settled back to happy and hopeful. He’d help me, I knew he would. These other feelings were just lies, lies like my old self.

There was a sharp pain in my side, just beneath my ribs, and then the shadow vanished along with everything else.

With no floor or anything beneath me, I found that I didn’t need to walk to wander the endless void that was suddenly around me. Occasionally shadows would pass by me, but they passed by much faster than I could see. And the further I wandered, the darker the shadows became across the neutral gray fog surrounding me in the void.

I found that if I stopped the shadows would whisper to me, threats and words that made my skin crawl in fear. When I stayed still they started to reach for me, red marks appearing against my skin and my clothes ripping where they got too close.

I kept moving after that, but soon they were there even when I was moving, countless shadows all just out of sight and in the corner of my eyes, all threatening me and following me.

I couldn’t get away from them. And soon they brought the stench of death and decay with them. Had they always smelled? Or was it that the further away I got from that warm and relaxed feeling with the first shadow the worst these other ones got?

A scream would have broken through me when they started growing maws that stretched half their mouths, holes for eyes that burned with a palpable hunger, but I couldn’t. I could only keep moving, try to escape them, as the warmth was slowly replaced with pain and a chill began to take over my bones.

There was no happiness left. I wandered this void under constant harassment from the shadows, and no matter what I did they always caught up to me. They always hurt me.

Tears slid down my face as I found a wall that I couldn’t see. There was no turning back, it had been too long, and soon the shadows would catch up to me.

I had got exactly what I had asked for. And all it had cost me was everything else.

I closed my eyes and whispered to myself.

_I am good for nothing except to be a tinker’s test subject._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there’s chapter 1.02! This was possibly the hardest thing I’ve ever had to write because of a lot of details going on behind the scenes that I didn’t want to actually write and put on screen. But this chapter needed to be done to help tie into the next and help showcase the story.
> 
> I’m still glad it’s done though. There’s some heavy stuff hidden in here that may or may not get picked up on the first read, but I hope that it was at least well done if you do pick up on things.
> 
> As always, thank you to everyone who reads, likes, and / or comments. You’re all fantastic and wonderful, and I’m happy you’re joining this ride alongside me.
> 
> And as always, thank you to the wonderful betas who looked over this chapter to make sure it was up to speed since I wrote a good 2,000 words of this drunk. @mondrae205 @zenithBemusement @Vilheim @Juff


	3. Lost in Echoes 1.03

**Turn Your Eyes**  
_Lost in Echoes 1.03_

I struggled to move, desperately wanting to escape the hell that had become my life. Every attempt at action was met by the complete refusal of my body to do anything. All I could do was move my eyes and everywhere I looked was a fresh horror, another reminder of where I had found myself.

I would have gagged at the smell if not for the silence I had vowed to keep. Closing my eyes to all the bodies around me just meant I had a clear backdrop to relive every second since being put down here. Was it ironic that I had killed who I used to be and was now surrounded by those killed by the devil I’d sold my soul to?

A tear traced its way through the grime on my face as I realized that I was going to die down here.

Above me, I heard a door shut and I couldn’t stop the panic that rose in my chest. He was back. Another test was coming and it had only been a few hours since the last one.

_No, no, nononononononononoooooooooo._

I couldn’t do it, not again. I **couldn’t**. As I started to hyperventilate, I took the one action that was left to me and fled to the shadows of the past.  
\--------------------------------------------------  
“See? That wasn’t so bad, was it?” Brewer said with a light slap to my cheek. I didn’t bother trying to reply, my voice raw from the screams that were still echoing in my ears. I tried to turn my head away but couldn’t, and Brewer quickly took my attention again as he held up another syringe. “Now that I’ve got you here, we can really begin. Guess you had some complications with Blackout going by the screaming at the end there, heh. So, this one here I call Lockjaw and it’s going to keep you from causing trouble. Already used it, in case you couldn’t tell, so there’s not going to be any of this ‘run’ business the first few dozens kept wanting to try.”

He pulled an opaque flask into view and I could imagine the smile that must be on his face. “This one, however, I’m only calling TT19. Haven’t quite figured out the exact mixture yet, so let’s hope it’s not like TT18. That was a bit of a disaster, haha. So! Bottoms up.”

I felt my mouth pulled open as my head was forced back and something slimy slid down my throat. An acrid taste lingered in my mouth that I couldn’t get rid of. Minutes passed in silence and for a moment I thought that perhaps he had made a dud.

Until it felt like someone had driven a spike through my stomach and I gasped from the pain. The feeling quickly spread, as if I was being stabbed at every possible point on my body, before the dark room seemed to come alive around me.

The shadows were back, I realized, and they watched with jaws slightly open.

Instinctively I knew that they were hungry for my suffering.  
\---------------------------------------------------  
I had no idea how much time passed between visits. But every visit brought pain, sometimes with the shadows coming alive around me, and more than once I found myself being slapped back to reality.

Eventually they brought in a little girl, her whimpering cries the only sound between the first few visits. The first visit after her appearance was hard, and I tried to comfort her after that. We’d escape eventually, I insisted. We just needed to be strong.  
I couldn’t help but feel that Brewer was getting impatient. Every few visits we came back to this TT thing he was developing and these were the worst of everything he put me through. Idly I wondered if it wasn’t making me insane over time.

I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t remember how to speak if I ever escaped this place. And I would escape eventually because I knew it would be my death if I didn’t. Little Sara had lasted three visits before she’d stopped responding, and I refused to end up like her.

She’d been such a sweet kid between visits. She deserved better than rotting away in this basement.

I’d avenge her one day. It was the only promise I could give her now.

The door at the top of the stairs opened, light spilling into the otherwise black room, and I averted my eyes from where the body lay. One of the large men that Brewer crafted walked down and I felt my blood run cold at the sight. On his shoulder was another, a young man who looked barely out of college.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d end up just like Sara.  
\--------------------------------------------------  
Every visit left me rattled now. Each time it was multiple doses of various substances, various feelings and effects on my mind and body forced upon me, as the bodies piled up around me. There were always more people being brought down.

I couldn’t find it in me to care anymore.  
\--------------------------------------------------  
“Looks like we had a happy accident this time,” Brewer said smugly as I stared back at him blankly. “I think I’m going to call this one Psychosis. I have to say this took far longer to perfect than I expected. But here we are. You’re quite the subject, you know. I think you deserve to get some Heartbeat.”

I hated myself for the longing I felt at the word. To just be free for a short amount of time…

I didn’t get the option to say no, I never did, before I felt the prick as it was injected.  
\--------------------------------------------------  
A slap hard enough to turn my head brought me back to the present. Looking up, I glared at Brewer as he injected me with something.

I knew something was wrong before I felt the fluid enter me. He always bragged about his serums. He always talked about things even when he was angry.

It felt like acid running through my veins. And then there was nothing.

Movement at the edge of my vision drew my attention. It was pitch black down here, I shouldn’t be able to…

The shadows were moving. With unnerving slowness they moved closer, their jagged maws open, and I knew they weren’t going to just stay away this time. They were done watching and feeding off of my agony.

They froze for a moment as there was a monumental crash above me and the sound of things being thrown around. It wasn’t enough, though, as they turned back to me. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t escape, and the shadows were closing in. Surrounding me, their hunger palpable, and I couldn’t even fight back.

As my panic mounted everything seemed to disappear, replaced with two beings that I couldn’t wrap my head around. They were impossibly large, complex, and yet I instinctively knew that they were alive, communicating, traveling.

As suddenly as it had happened, I saw the darkness around me again.

And I could feel it.

Another crash sounded from above, followed by a muffled yell, as I struggled to remember what had just happened. Something big?

I shook my head before I froze, my eyes going wide. I could move.

I all but jumped to my feet before falling to my knees almost immediately, panting, as my legs gave out beneath me. How long had I been down here? How long had it been since I had used my own body?

I felt something smooth, dangerous, wrap around my arms and legs. Pushing myself up I looked at my hands as something darker than the darkness around me wrapped itself around my hand. That feeling from before lingered as I took a step forward hesitantly, gritting my teeth at the effort. Something had changed, and all I knew was that I finally had the power to take my life back.

I was going to kill Brewer for what he’d done to me.

The door blasted open when was halfway across the room and I raised my arms to shield my eyes. The tendrils extended from my arms as I clenched my fists before I heard someone gagging from the top of the stairs.

“What the fuck were they doing,” a voice asked after a few moments. “Hey, you! Are you the only one?”

I lowered my arms hesitantly, squinting at the bright light, to see a figure I didn’t recognize. A cape based on the outfit and helmet, and I clenched my jaw at the thought.

Never again.

I gathered the darkness around me and struck out, tendrils flying from all around me as a scream of rage escaped my lips. The cape moved faster, though, moving backwards and out of sight as my whips cut through the door and frame.

“Hey! I’m here to help you, dammit. We don’t have much time before someone else shows up if you want to get out of here.”

I took a step forward, my breathing heavy, before I had to steady myself.

“You want to be free and live, then come with me,” the voice called out after a few moments of silence. “Because I’m burning this place down before I leave.”

“F-ine,” I struggled to say as I released my control over my surroundings, my eyes looking towards the corner of the room.

She deserved better, I had said. And a pyre was better than this.

“I’ll kill him and everyone who worked with him. I promise,” I muttered under my breath as the cape poked their head around the corner.

“You good? Not gonna attack me again are you?”

“No.”

“Are you good to walk or… God, you look terrible. How are you even alive?”

“Spite.”

The cape seemed to hesitate for a moment before coming down the stairs, putting my arm around their shoulder, and I leaned heavily against them as we made our way up the stairs.

Cruel irony that I had to rely on a cape yet again. But this time I wasn’t helpless.

On the other side of where the door had been was a vast warehouse. Debris, piping, even metal beams laid scattered as if a tornado had ripped through the room. Against the far wall I saw one of the mountain men that Brewer used unconscious and partially buried beneath a forklift.

“Is he dead?”

“No, he’s a tough son of a bitch. If it wasn’t for whatever happened in the middle of the fight, I think he might have been able to catch me eventually. Was gonna move him away before I torched the place.”

“Leave him.”

“What? Why? That’s murder.”

“You saw the bodies. You don’t know what they did to us,” I ground out. “Leave. Him.”

“Jeez, okay, okay. It’s on your head, though.”

We walked in silence after that, going out a side door and into fresh air. I’d forgotten what it felt like to breathe without the pressing feeling of stagnant air filled with death. A sigh escaped me as I looked up at the night sky, stars twinkling and the cheshire moon grinning down at us.

“I’m going to get us a bit into the woods, I’ve got a vehicle stashed nearby, before I go burn the building. You gonna be okay by yourself?”

“I think so,” I said quietly as I looked towards the treeline. It occured to me that I didn’t know where we were. Couldn’t run even if I wanted to with no idea where the nearest house might be.

I sat with my back to a tree, the rough bark more pleasant than anything I had felt in recent memory, and watched as the cape headed back. Moving faster than I would’ve thought possible, shooting off across distances in moments, I realized that I didn’t care who they were or what they were.

I was free, finally, and the only thing that mattered anymore was my revenge. And as much as I hated to admit it, I wasn’t sure if I was strong enough to do this alone. But who did I have to help me? Besides this random cape, and there was no guarantee they’d even want to.

My thoughts were interrupted by an explosion and a burst of fire from the warehouse windows. A figure was heading towards where I sat, the cape going by how they moved, and I ignored them in favor of watching as the building burned.

“We’ll need to leave soon, before anyone comes to check this out, but…. I’m sure you’d like to watch it fall down at least,” they said gently as they approached.

“Who are you?”

“Void. Came to the area ‘cause I thought it would be quiet. Stumbled across this place, staked it out, realized something was going on. Didn’t think I’d find, well, that.”

“What next?”

“Get you back on your feet. Rest is up to you. I figure we could work together since I think we’re both going to be looking to shut down these people, if you’re interested. Two capes are better than one, after all.”

“Don’t call me that,” I spat out, the shadows around us moving at my anger. I took a deep breath, focusing on that sixth sense, before I continued. “I want to destroy them.”

“Then partners?” they asked, holding out a hand.

I looked into the glass on their helmet as I wondered if I was making another mistake before I took their hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [spoiler=’A/N’]  
Sorry for the delay, but thank you everyone for reading / liking / commenting! This is the last of the stupid dark chapters, finally, and I hope you enjoy the update.
> 
> I don’t have much to say this time, but as always, thank you to @zenithBemusement and an anonymous beta for reading through this chapter. I kinda jumped the gun with posting before anyone else could get to it, so minor edits might occur in the future, possibly.  
[/spoiler]


	4. Lost in Echoes 1.04

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kali goes wandering.

**Turn Your Eyes**  
_Lost in Echoes 1.04_  
https://d2homsd77vx6d2.cloudfront.net/cache/7a/2e/7a2eca87d796d9fd03a702d75817da61.png

I stared into the fire, the crackles and pops echoing through the dark room around me. The flames flickered as a log collapsed, and I recoiled, flinching as images jumped across the room. Minutes passed before I managed to slowly open my eyes. I pulled my shaky hands from my head and gasped for air. My gaze turned upwards as I leaned my head backwards onto the couch and stared sightlessly at the ceiling above me.

Two weeks wasn’t enough to stop reliving the nightmare that had been my life. I still couldn’t believe how much time was missing, and whenever I thought about it I felt dirtier than I had before.

Dirtier than I felt just by existing. How was I supposed to deal with anything when I was one of _them_? When I was even more ruined because of _him_?

How was I supposed to continue when his influence was everywhere, poisoning everything?

When he had broken me?

A strangled sob broke through the silence as I wrapped my arms around myself and tried to shove myself deeper into the rundown couch. I couldn’t go to my apartment, I couldn’t return to my life, I could barely keep food down.

I couldn’t stop thinking about killing him for what he did to me.

The sound of the door unlocking caused me to jump to my feet, my heart hammering as I pulled the shadows to me. My breath caught in my throat as my entire body tensed for several long moments.

“Hey, I’m back,” Void's voice called through the house and I could breathe again. They entered the living room, coming to a stop as our eyes met, and a sigh sang through the air between us. “I wish there was more I could do to help.”

“Train me,” I said rather forcefully. “Teach me to fight.”

"I don't know how to fight."

"You beat the big guy when I… When — that night."

"With my powers," they muttered as they shook their head.

I broke eye contact at the word, scowling at the fire instead. It always came back to powers, didn’t it?

“Uh…. You okay?”

“No. I just realized my entire life is a fucking mess — worse than it already was — because of powers. Kinda feels like I got what I deserved.”

“No one deserved what I saw down there.”

“So, I guess I just continue to practice on my own then, and in the meantime we can come up with a plan.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. You need information before you can plan, and there’s precious little information on this Brewer person. Best I’ve got is some possible connections to local drug dealers, and a lot more questions about how he got up to the scale of what he was doing.” They ruffled their blond hair absently for a moment before continuing. “I didn’t want to bring it up while you recovered, but I think he’s underground. Finding him has been impossible, and I’m not entirely sure if that’ll get better without him wanting to be found. I don’t even know how you ended up in his sick operation.”

“I went to him,” I forced out around my clenched teeth. “I knew I shouldn’t have, I knew it was a bad idea to go to someone that sounded like a cape, and I still did it.”

“Then you know where to find him?”

“No. Yes. Kinda. I don’t know!” I floundered, flailing my arms around as my shadows coiled around my arms. “He texted me in the middle of the night so much it woke me up. Offered to make — to give me what I’ve wanted for my entire life. I knew it was too good to be true, I fucking knew it.”

“Hey, relax, I’m not blaming you and you shouldn’t be either.” Their voice was low, soothing, and reminded me to focus on my breathing. “It’s not your fault that a monster preyed on you. And hey, you’ve got powers now. You can use them to make things better for others so they don’t have to go through what you did.”

“Yeah, I guess,” I admitted grudgingly. “I think I was supposed to die that day.”

“That’s a sudden claim,” they said tentatively. “What makes you think that? From the little you talked about —”

“The last dose. I think he was killing me because the results were wrong or something, maybe. Or he knew you were coming. Or someone else was on his tail, I don’t know. It just wasn’t normal.”

“Maybe,” they said neutrally. I didn’t think they believed it, though. “Anyways, you’ve seen my face enough that I wanted to do proper introductions. Don’t feel like you need to, though. I’ve been trying to keep the pressure off of you. But if we’re going to be working together we’ll probably need to be around each other a lot without costumes. So...The name’s Alex.” They paused for a moment before continuing, “An associate of mine will join us in a few days. I was thinking that, with you, we could set up as an official team over the course of the month to remove the villains from the area. If you’re interested.”

Fighting against the urge to roll my eyes, I pretended to consider the offer for about half a second before I held out my hand.

“Kali. And I’m very interested,” I said without hesitation.

“You’re going to need a cape name and a costume,” Alex reminded me ruefully. My eye twitched as I turned away to walk to my bedroom. Their voice called out after me, “And maybe we can talk more tomorrow. It was nice actually hearing you speak more than a few words at a time. I was worried you were going to stop talking entirely.”

I didn’t care if I had powers. Nothing would make me be a cape. Even if it meant being something different or new, I refused to walk the same path as those who had repeatedly ruined my life.

Maybe it was the months in my own personal hell but I felt better when I was in the darkness of my room. There was a palpable difference, a familiarity that I could touch if I wanted to, as I stared out of the window. The lights from a car lit up the room temporarily, my eyes watching the vehicle pass by, and a pit formed in my gut.

Was that my life? To be this bystander that things happened to, who just watched on as everything drove past? Would I just be stuck in dark rooms until I died because I was too terrified of what was hiding out there?

I struggled to draw in a breath as the room started to feel unbearably small. There had to be something other than being walled in forever, had to be something more than waiting around. The window shook as I shoved it open, the brisk February air sweeping into the room. Goosebumps rose in waves as I hung half out the window, practically panting as I watched the cars drive by.

As I watched my life drive by.

With a sound of disgust, I shoved myself away from the window and ripped the hoodie Alex had given me from the bed. Hesitating for a heartbeat, I slipped myself out the open window and took off running as soon as I had my feet under me. Snow crunched under my shoes as I darted across the hastily plowed street and heading towards the edge of town.

I could see it. It was like nothing had changed as I ran past drunks and strung out bums, weaving my way past snow mounds before I skidded to a stop in the parking lot. There was the line, the door, the same as I remembered. I traced my footsteps in a haze of black, little spots of red following me against the white on the ground, as I struggled to draw breath against the oppressive weight in the air around me.

I stopped in front of the bouncer as I finally noticed that he wasn’t the same mountain of a man as last time. For the first time since I had gone through the window I faltered, doubts springing to mind as I glanced at the angry faces of those in line and the hostile words they were throwing my way.

“Lady, you need to wait in line like everyone else,” the bouncer said with a hint of irritation in his voice.

A muscle in my jaw twitched as I worked to release the tension, struggling to find the words to make him understand.

When none came to mind I raised my fist.

“Jesus, what did you do? Smash a bottle on the way over? Fuck,” he said suddenly and I blinked in confusion. Before I could figure out what he was talking about he pulled a walkie from his belt and started speaking into it. “Jim, get the first aid kit out here. I’ve got a bleeder.”

Bleeder? I shook my head slightly to try and clear the fog as the door opened and another normal man stepped out with a white box. As he opened it and stepped towards me, I darted around him and through the open door. The inside of the building looked the same, the entryway and the thunderous music, and I bolted for the stairs.

There was no mountain man waiting at the bottom to collect anything this time. I collided with the door hard enough to rattle it in its frame as I fumbled with the handle and flung it open.

I made it one step across the threshold before I sank to my knees.

It was all gone. He was gone. The only things around me were storage crates and barrels and cleaning equipment.

I raised my hands numbly, and for the first time I saw the blood from where my nails had gouged out lines in my palms. The red on white was strange to look at, nearly as strange as the room I was kneeling in, and I let out a strangled giggle that quickly turned into a shaking sob.

The sob turned into a raw scream as I slammed my hands down on the hard floor. Around me shadows whipped and thrashed at the edges of my vision, and I rose to my feet slowly as my thoughts sharpened.

He could run all he wanted to. But I would find him. I would find him and make him suffer.

“Christ, lady, the hell you do —”

The man’s voice cut off as I turned around, the door slamming behind him as shadows forced it closed.

“Where. Is. He?” My voice trembled slightly. More shadows moved with each word.

“I have no idea who you’re talking about! I just started here a week ago, I swear. Please don’t kill me,” he begged.

Why was he begging?

“There used to be a cape working down here. Sound familiar?”

“No! This has just been a storage basement since I got hired, I promise. I don’t know any capes.”

I turned away from him, casting a glance across the rooms. The door to the other room was gone, just a hole in the wall now, and I felt shaken.

Could I trust my own memory anymore? Or was that something else he had taken from me?

I couldn’t stay here. If he wasn’t here then I needed to go elsewhere, but I had no leads that I could follow. My prison was out; Alex had made sure it burned to the ground when we left, and with my phone gone there was no way to get the number Brewer had used that fateful night.

I wassure he’d changed phones since then anyways.

I walked past the guy who was cowering on the floor, went back up the stairs and out of the building. Outside I paused for just a moment to glance around, those in line and the bouncer eyed me warily, before I set off for the heart of town. I needed to think, to figure out what to do, because I couldn’t accept that he was unreachable.

Time passed in random spurts as I walked. I could see the large clock of city hall. Sometimes it seemed like it was frozen in time, and sometimes I’d look up to see that it was suddenly twenty minutes later.

I flinched as the clock struck midnight, the echoing notes shaking me to my core, and I felt the cold come in with it. How long had I been out here? How many circles had I walked in while aimlessly wandering?

“You know, you’re going to die if you stay out all night like this,” a quiet voice called out to me from ahead. Looking down from the clock, I saw a young girl in a dark green costume that looked like it was covered in scales. Her visor was a shade of offwhite that was slightly reflective and she wore a similarly colored skirt over the rest of her outfit. She finger gunned at me from her perch on the wall to the court’s parking lot, and I reflexively stepped back. “Oh, no, please don’t run. I noticed you seemed kinda lost and wanted to see if I could help. My girlfriend’s going to be pissed I ran out on her at the bar to wander around for almost an hour looking for some random person.”

She smirked, or was it a smile? “She didn’t see what I did though. So before you do anything else, maybe put this on?”

A package landed in the snow between us, just a few steps in front of me. She made a shooing motion, pointing at the thing, with a big smile on her face.

How old was this kid?

I shook my head, stepping forward cautiously to look at the object. It was a mask of some kind that looked like it was supposed to cover the lower half of the face below the eyes. It was black with some kind of white design that I couldn’t see in full.

“I bought that earlier for skiing, but I have a feeling you’re going to get more use out of it than I will. And I’ve got like ten others at home. Wear it so no one else who might remember your face will. Cause being new to the scene and making shows like you did back there with your face out… not everyone plays nice.”

I picked it up gingerly, watching the fabric shift to reveal the jagged outline of teeth on it.

“You can keep the shirt too. I was going to give it to my sister but I don’t care enough about it to get close to you to get it back. Take care of yourself, shadow girl,” she said in an upbeat tone before she leaned back and flipped over the wall and out of sight.

My eyes searched for any sign of her coming back for a few minutes, and when I was reassured that she was gone I turned my attention back to the cloth in my hands, reaching down to pick up the shirt. Inside I noticed an envelope with a hastily written note on it. Carefully opening it, I read what I had to assume were the cape’s words.

_Take care of yourself. You’ll do well when you’re barely making a whisper of sound half the time. Good luck with whoever ‘he’ is, and maybe we’ll see each other around on the job some time._

_And learn to talk, god. Muttering demands and being all stoically quiet is so 2000’s Batman!_

_Don’t freeze to death!  
~Tiger Lily~_

I stuffed the paper into my hoodie pocket with the shirt and carefully put on the mask.

Maybe I couldn’t find Brewer as Kali. Maybe I had to give in to this stupid power and hunt him down as someone else. My mind flicked back to the letter and what Alex and I had talked about earlier.

If I couldn’t be Kali, then maybe Whisper would have to be good enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there’s chapter 4! As always, thank you everyone for reading, liking, and commenting! It means the world to me, and I can now say that we are officially past the dark chapters. Hooray, right?
> 
> And, as always, thank you to the lovely people who beta’d this chapter. [PLEASE COMMENT NAME HERE] zenithBemusement Mondrae205/photondray Juff
> 
> From here on out the story is going to start picking up. Or at least that’s the plan.
> 
> But we all know that I don’t know what planning is. xD


	5. Lost in Echoes 1.05

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And there we are! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and as always I want to thank everyone for reading, commenting, and / or liking.
> 
> And, of course, thank you to the wonderful people who looked over this chapter to fix all of my stupid mistakes as usual. @zenithBemusement @Juff
> 
> Until next time, take care of yourselves lovelies. <3

**Turn Your Eyes **

_Lost in Echoes 1.05___

_  
___  


If there was one thing I hated half as much as I hated Brewer, it had to be winter. I scowled at the fluffy whiteness around me, as I made my way slowly down towards Alex’s house, my hands buried in my pockets. Each step felt harder than the last, not just because of the cold seeping into my bones, but also because I was not looking forward to what was probably waiting for me. Unless I got lucky and the window was still open for me to slip into.

I chalked that up as wishful thinking and continued forward at a slightly slower pace. I could put off dealing with Alex for a while longer without freezing myself. Truth be told I was less concerned with that than I was with the absolute lack of leads that I had. It felt like I was always surrounded by questions without answers, all the why’s whipping around me. As depressing as the weather was, the reality of my situation was more bleak to look at. It felt raw and cancerous, pulsing with the evil that continued to haunt me, and a weariness was seeping out into my bones.

Halting my aimless wandering, I leaned up against a shop wall and rubbed my hands together. When was the last time I’d been outside in the cold for this long? When I was a child, playing carelessly, imagining the great future I was going to have? I’d never felt so lost, so adrift in the world as I did right now, and the thoughts of what used to be seemed so distant that I wondered if they were even real. How much of the world that I was looking at was what it appeared to be on the surface and not just a front, a lie, with some dark corner waiting to suck me back into the depths?

“You got Heartbreak? Nice, dude. My parents are out on some business trip, we could do a thing. I heard Becky was willing to show if we got anything good.” A young boy’s voice broke through the fog clouding my mind and my head snapped to the side. There was a parking lot on the side of this building, and a quick peek around the corner showed a car with some teens standing around together. In one of their hands was a small bottle with a broken heart logo on it, filled with a very familiar blood red substance. My tongue snaked across my lips as I stepped forward instinctively, as the _**need**_ rose to the surface before my mind caught up with my body. Furiously I clenched my fists as I stalked forward, crouching low so I could use the vehicles along the way for cover. Maybe they’d tell me where they got it without me having to ask.

I could always take it from them after getting the information that I needed. Take it so that it was mine, so that I could <s>feel it</s> destroy it. I didn’t need it <s>I needed it</s>. I could just <s>drink</s> get it out of their hands.

My hands gripped at the edges of the mask over my face as I stared down at the snow and shivered. It was just the cold. It was just the snow I was kneeling in. It was just — 

“Oh, me? I got it from Drew. He’ll set you up real good if you ask. I get my grass from him, too, and I get some powder for Sherri sometimes. He’s probably got X, yeah. Probably got some meat if you’re looking for a quick fuck.”

My body felt jerky as I stood up, like a rubber band being pulled and released repeatedly, and I turned slowly in the snow. Everything was slow, white on black on red, and I felt like I could count every snowflake falling around me.

They were the same as _him_. They were using people, they were using that <s>beautiful</s> horrible stuff. They were hurting me.

There was a soft crunch beneath my feet as I charged forward, the quiet rustle of bodies as they turned slowly, and all I could see was red against the white.

Tendrils launched out from my hood and the depths of my sleeves, moving from their own shadows cast from the car headlights, lashing out to grab and tear and slice. White was interrupted by black as their cries of surprise stopped abruptly in a sea of red. Red, red, red red red red.

My fingers twitched as they closed around smooth glass, my body relaxing from a tenseness I didn’t remember getting, and I felt a weight lift from my chest as the shadows slowly retracted. My eyes were glued to the Heartbreak in my hands, so close and all mine. It was okay now, everything was — 

A disaster. My thoughts were crystallizing as I looked around at the blood. So much blood sinking into the snow, running a red river towards the road, and it was my fault. A shiver ran up my spine as I looked at the limp bodies and scraps of cloth scattered across the poorly plowed parking lot.

Wordlessly I turned and ran. I hadn’t meant to. I hadn’t wanted to hurt anyone.

I didn’t want to be a monster.

They just needed to stop, that was all, just stop.

With a shuddering breath I shoved the rising scream down deep into my chest and kept running as the red chased after me.  
\----------------------------------------  
The window wasn’t open. I shoved the bottle into my hoodie, the red lingering before I remembered that I had blood on my hands. I plopped down on the front porch and let my head hit the door frame as I stared out at the passing cars. The door opened slowly a few moments later and Alex sat down next to me as they shut the door.

“Didn’t think you’d be back, if I’m being honest.”

I moved my shoulders in an attempt at a shrug as flashes of red crossed my mind.

“I saw you coming up the steps. Got the shower heating up if you’re interested.”

There was a pause as I didn’t respond and they sighed and stood up slowly. A hand entered my vision and I looked up.

“I’m not going to press you, Kali. And I’m not kicking you out because you jumped the window. I get it. Shit sucks and we can’t do anything about it and you need to feel like you’re doing something about it. Fuck do I know it.” Their head shook slowly as they faltered. “I’m here if you need to talk. You’re safe here, and hopefully you’ll feel it one day. In the meantime, let’s get you warm before you die from the cold and get you clean cause you kinda look like shit.”

A moment’s hesitation and I took the hand, slowly making my way inside and towards the bathroom.

Showers were supposed to make you feel better, or at least that’s what my parents had always said. But the longer I stood underneath the hot water, steam rising around me, the worse I felt. I couldn’t stop seeing red, despite the water running clear and the bathroom being a fairly ugly beige. My mind kept going back to the bottle tucked into the hoodie pocket on the floor just a few feet away, and I kept seeing flashes of the faces of those kids before I’d... mauled them. It was the best phrase I could think of for the sight I had left behind.

The water running over my hands stung a little from the little divots I’d dug into my palms, a small pain that I unarguably deserved after the mess I had made with the night. Those poor club workers.

Those kids.

I leaned back, letting the water splash across my face as I let my emotions out. The frustrations, the desires, the anger, the guilt. Just letting my emotions flow like the water around me as I made a promise to the people I had hurt tonight.

I wouldn’t hurt people caught up in the fallout. If they were actually a part of Brewer’s operations then it was different, but those people tonight hadn’t deserved anything.

Fuck, I hope they hadn’t died.

Some time later, long after the water had run cold, I stepped out of the bathroom and made my way towards the living room where Alex was sitting with a laptop across their lap.

“Hey,” I mumbled as I stood awkwardly in the doorway.

“Feel any better?” they asked as they typed away, glancing up at me.

“Not really. I kinda fucked up big time tonight.” The admission felt heavy on my tongue as I rubbed at the back of my neck. “But I might have gotten a lead out of the disaster.”

“Oh?”

“I visited the place where I got taken. Everything’s gone, it’s just some club now. Wandered around after that.” My voice sounded as defeated as I did as I ran through the list. “Found a cape, or rather she found me. Some kid, gave me an idea for my own name, gave me the hoodie. Not sure what was going on there. Wandered some more, found some teenagers. Kinda fucked that up.”

“Oh?” Their voice was harder as they glanced at me as I pulled the bottle from my pocket with a grimace.

“This stuff is called Heartbreak. It’s his. It’s... highly addictive. They had it,” I said reluctantly as I stared at the liquid.

“What’s it do?”

“Makes you compliant. Suggestible. Some other stuff I’d rather not talk about.”

“It’s a rapist’s dream, fucking christ!” Alex looked at it with disgust before looking at me slowly. “Why do you still have it?”

“Because,” I muttered before stopping and biting at my lower lip.

“Oh fuck, you’re addicted to it,” they said as realization crossed their face.

“Kinda. Not really. Maybe.” I turned my head away, holding the bottle to my chest as I hugged myself. “That’s not the point. Look, I kinda fucked up, okay? They were talking about where they got it or something, or a party, I don’t really know. And I was just watching and listening. That’s all I was doing. I was gonna just steal it from them and make them think twice about it.”

“But you did something else instead.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yeah. They talked about using people. Like people on Heartbreak or something and buying the stuff and they had it. I just lost it. I don’t know what happened, there was so much blood, and I didn’t _mean_ to I swear I just — “

“I get it, Kali, it’s alright. Well, not alright. It’s pretty fucking terrible and I’m not sure if you should be hoping that they died or that they didn’t. I’ll keep an eye on the news and things for reports on the attack. You just... try not to be too hard on yourself, but you should learn from this. Stop it from happening again. Control your powers instead of letting them control you.”

The couch bounced a little as I dropped down on the opposite end as Alex and curled up with my wet hair over the armrest. It was silent save for the clicking of keys. After a few minutes, I broke the silence slowly.

“There’s a guy named Drew who gets this stuff in. I wanted to find out where but I fucked up instead.”

“We’ll figure that out, Kali. For now, maybe we should focus on getting you back on your feet? You still need a phone and to figure out what to do about your apartment. I can fix the first problem, but the second is going to be on what you want to do. And maybe some more clothes shopping, if you like?”

“Yeah, that sounds nice, I guess,” I agreed around my hoodie sleeves. “And maybe we can make a plan.”

“Kali,” Alex warned.

“Look, I’ve got a name now and everything. And that girl might know something useful, like who this Drew guy is. And then we can get to Brewer and put an end to it all!”

“And what name is that? Shadow Girl?”

“Ha fucking ha. No. It’s Whisper.”

“That’s certainly a name. Why Whisper?”

“It was just something that girl said that stuck with me. And it’s symbolic or something. A Whisper in the dark or whatever. You’re the one who said I needed one, for fucks sake.”

“Yeah, I guess I did. I just, I don’t know, didn’t think you’d actually pick one or use it.”

“I’ll do whatever it takes to get him, Alex. Anything.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of.”

I ignored the jab with an eyeroll and settled in as Alex shifted the laptop to the table with a video loaded up. _Avatar the Last Airbender, the complete series._

“What’s that?”

“A show from Aleph. Feel free to watch with me, though I might fall asleep in the middle of it.”

“A show would be nice, yeah. I’ll take the hint and shut up for the night.”

“Good, cause people talking during shows and movies are the worst.”

I giggled at that, thinking of happier times, as Alex pressed play. As the opening credits started, I pulled the bottle a little closer.


	6. Lost in Echoes 1.06

**Turn Your Eyes **  
_ Lost in Echoes 1.06_

You were supposed to be able to tell a lot about a person by their looks. Granny had always said that you could see unhappiness and sickness if you knew what to look for. The eyes, the tilt of the lips, the way their brow furrowed, the color of their skin.

I didn’t understand it then, and as I stared at my reflection in the mirror, I wasn’t sure if I understood it now. My eyes were the same jade green as always, my skin was maybe a little lighter than it used to be, and I couldn’t tell if my expressions were different since Brewer had broken me.

I still had trouble accepting the physical changes that had sealed my fate all those weeks ago. With a sigh, I pulled a few stray strands of black hair out of my eyes and turned to exit what had become my bedroom. Alex had been more than kind, even after my outburst the other night; they promised we’d start _Legend of Korra_ soon, now that we had finished _Avatar_, and I’d kept my promise of staying put. Well, other than when we went shopping.

Was it weird to be doing these normal things when there was so much wrong around me? When I was still waking up surrounded by shadows? Did I even really know what normal was anymore?

I certainly wasn’t any more normal than I had been two months ago. Sure, I had the body I had always obsessed over, that I had always dreamed of, but it had cost me everything. Being able to walk down the street without a care in the world was a thing of the past, something that seemed alien to me now. Being a cape was the furthest thing from being normal. I could laugh at the absurdity of it, how being trans wasn’t even a factor in my life anymore.

The more things changed, the more they stayed the same.

Speaking of things changing... I turned my attention to Alex as they moved past me to go start breakfast. I wasn’t sure what to think about the cape, and I was a little ashamed to admit that I was largely confused by them. Maybe part of it was my own suspicions about them, but there just seemed to be something off that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. While they had been open to my probing about their identity once they had unmasked that first night — I had to know if they were like my family before I could even think about sticking around — they just seemed oddly accepting of everything.

I had to shove down the rising hysteria screaming inside me that they were one of _his_. Paranoia was helpful sometimes, but if I couldn’t trust anything ever then I would never be able to get over this.

Instead, I watched as they moved around the kitchen, flashing a smile as they saw me staring from across the counter, and thought about what Granny might see in them.

They weren’t bad looking, even if they weren’t my type, but I didn’t think Granny would be looking at sex appeal. Thinking back on it, I couldn’t think of a time where they didn’t look fine. It was obvious that they took care of themselves, their brown eyes were frequently inquisitive and caring, and I’d only seen them really upset once since I’d met them. And that was after a fight and my attempt at attacking them.

They had taken my assault and possible murders without even blinking. Which, thinking about it, might be a worrying sign. I didn’t know if they did hero or villain stuff in costume, now that I thought about it. What if they had just been raiding that building I’d been in? But... that didn’t mesh with everything I had seen since. The way they didn’t invade my personal space, how they announced themselves instead of risking scaring me. Unless it was just being scared of my powers... but they’d dodged me easily enough before, hadn’t they?

I never knew if it was paranoia or caution anymore. Like I was balanced on a knife’s edge, tilting and swaying above a bottomless abyss. All my mistakes, my failures, threatening to swallow me whole if I so much as slipped. The very act of keeping myself standing was a cause of pain.

My fingers traced the length of the bottle in my pocket, my hands trembling slightly with the proximity. I needed to center myself before I got lost in what-ifs and maybes. In my pocket was a known evil, one that I could do something about.

“So…” I cleared my throat as Alex looked over their shoulder for a moment. “What’s the game plan?”

“Drop you off to buy clothes while I go pick up Laura. I can give you cash and you’ll have plenty of time to shop. Was thinking we could go up to the mall, it’s only like a forty minute drive, since I need to stop by the airport anyways.”

I chewed the idea over for a few minutes. It would be nice to get out of the house. Some fresh air, fresh sights. I hadn’t been to the mall in ages, and clothes shopping would be nice.

“There’s one problem with that,” I said sheepishly as Alex slid a plate across the counter to me.

“Oh?”

“I don’t know how to, uhm, size. Anything. It’s all different.”

“Oh.” An awkward silence stretched between us as I stabbed at the food on my plate. “We could pick up Laura first and see if she’d be willing to — “

Whatever Laura might be willing to do was drowned out by a series of shrill beeps from Alex’s laptop on the counter by the stove. I eyed the device warily, setting down my fork onto the shredded food that I hadn’t actually touched. I stood up slowly while Alex all but flew across the kitchen.

“The fuck is that?” The words were sharp, the accusation hanging in the air between us.

“An alert. A bad alert.”

“What do you mean by ‘bad’?”

“The news story finally broke. The one about you.”

“Oh. _Oh_. Shit.”

“Yeah. So, here’s the quick and dirty version. The police were called by a passerby who saw the blood, and the injuries brought in the PRT. The kids were taken to the hospital, all of them are in critical care. They’re not saying if they’re expected to recover. The PRT is releasing a statement in two hours. Channel 3 is calling it gang violence, it looks like.”

“So, they’re…”

“Alive, yeah, for now at least. It doesn’t sound like you made it easy for them.”

“Fuck.”

“Mhmm, that’s weird. Looks like one of the police deputies let it slip that power effects were at play, but they’re trying to shut down reports on that.”

“Where are you getting all this info from, anyway?” I asked, partially to change the subject, and partially because it was a little overwhelming.

“I’ve got some contacts who can pull up a lot of public info in a very short amount of time. Given what you told me and our plans for the future, I figured it would be a good idea to tap some favors. I mentioned I’d keep an eye out.”

“Yeah, I guess so. It’s just kinda weird.”

“Powers are weird, Kali. It comes with the territory. We’ll need to watch that press release, though. See if we can’t find out how much they know and figure out where to go from there.”

“I fucked up.”

“No one’s going to dispute that. Just; learn from it. Be more careful.”

“Yeah,” I said slowly. I turned towards the hallway after a moment while Alex huddled over the laptop and started switching between tabs. “I’m going to just go get dressed.”

“We can leave when you’re ready. I can pull up the press release on my phone when it gets released. If Laura’s plane is on time she’ll be able to analyse it with us.”

I was already scurrying away, making a beeline for my room before locking the door behind me. My chest felt tight, like there was a vice clamp keeping me from breathing properly, and my entire body felt shaky. There was so much red; I could remember every drop of red. Red in the darkness. Red in my veins.

Red in the beating of my heart and the warmth of my skin.

Slowly I pulled out the little red bottle from my pocket as I fought to pull in breath.

I needed it. I needed to stop.

I wanted to escape.

The cap bounced across the carpet as the scent of what could only be described as bottled lust filled my nose and my heart jumped and I dragged in a shaky breath.

_More? You want more? Well, since you asked so_ nicely, _I guess you can have more._

I threw the bottle across the room, the glass shattering against the leg of the desk in the corner as my pulse thundered in my ears. A shiver rolled across my skin as I stared at the glass.

_That’s a good girl. Look me in my eyes. Yes, there we go. How does it feel?_

What made me any different from those teenagers I’d attacked? How was I any better than any drunk in a gutter, any addict wandering the park for spare change looking for their next fix? Or my father taking pain killers from the bottle, growing more irritated without the relief of his addiction?

Would I ever stop wanting more?

_Ah ah ah. You’ll get more when I decide you get more._

Was I just a tool, something to be used and thrown away?

Was I weak?

A series of quick knocks drew my attention to the locked door at my back.

“Kali? Are you okay?”

My tongue snaked out, over my lips, following the trail of red to catch every last bit that might have been missed before I replied.

“Yeah. I’m better than okay now.”

“I heard something break.”

“Yeah, that was me. It’s fine. Don’t worry your pretty voice about it, okay? I’ll be out in a minute and we can leave. Laura sounds lovely. Can’t leave a lady waiting, can we?”

“...Alright.”

I ran my fingers across my lips gingerly. Red. They felt like red.

After a moment they lifted into a Cheshire’s red grin.

The softness of my clothes sent lightning dancing across my skin as I quickly changed into sweatpants and a long sleeve shirt under my hoodie. Absently I ran my tongue over my teeth, breathing in the scent of red, before I stepped out of the room.

”I’m ready,” I called out as I slipped into a pair of boots. As Alex stepped into the room, they gave me a confused look.

Reaching for their keys on the counter — I’d never noticed how their hands reminded me of pianist hands — Alex’s eyes flicked across my face. “Are you sure you’re okay? You sound… Different.”

“I’m fine,” I insisted, rolling my eyes at their words. “I’m just red. I mean, I’m ready. Nervous about meeting Laura, I guess.”

“If you say so.” They were clearly not convinced, shaking their head slowly before opening the door for me. Playfully I bumped my hip into theirs as I walked past, winking as I hurried off to the truck while a shiver ran up my spine from the contact.

This was so much better than the tense, coiled, miserable Kali. I had to admit to myself that being miserable was something I didn’t want to be anymore, now that I recognized how miserable I actually had been.

The ride was quiet once we hit the highway, small talk wearing out as I turned my attention to the passing trees and cars. Every once in a while I could see deer or the occasionally stranded vehicle amidst the fluffy white.

What would Laura be like? Alex trusted her, that much was obvious. Maybe she’d be cute! I couldn’t help but want to have someone who I could talk to about stuff that Alex wasn’t interested in. I perked up as a sign for the airport passed by as we exited the highway. I’d find out soon enough it seemed. A few more minutes of daydreaming and I’d be meeting this enigmatic woman.

My attention was pulled away as Alex swore explosively and the truck accelerated past the speed limit. The whine of the engine made me turn from looking curiously at Alex to the dash, and something dark caught my attention.

“Oh fu — “

The impact sent the truck skidding and then rolling across the road as my words died in my throat at the shattering of glass. My body jerked violently and I heard a snap before I was flung bodily from my seat.

The sound of explosions rang in my ears as I clawed my way back to consciousness, scrambling my way through the remains of the windshield I was hanging out of. The taste of copper filled my mouth as I slipped my mask from my hoodie to my face and flipped the hood with a sense of finality.

Looking around, I couldn’t see Alex amongst the wreckage; it looked like the front half of the airport had been ripped apart and thrown around the area.

I pulled myself to my feet, the hood buckling underneath my weight, as I looked for the cape and Alex. They couldn’t be that far, judging by the crashing and explosive sounds that I could still hear. Darting forward, I ran over glass and around rubble as I entered into the building itself.

I didn’t have to look long before I came across a woman in a form-fitting outfit, who came to a halt five feet in the air above me. She had long hair dyed red and blue, held in place by a band connected to the red and blue mask covering the top half of her face.

“Heya cutie. Sorry, but I’ve got things to do and that doesn’t include you right now. Try again when I’m done.”

Her lips were a ruby red and my gaze lingered on the color before she gave me finger guns and launched straight up in a haze of red.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there’s 1.06! This chapter changed a lot while I was writing it, a lot of events happening that I did not originally plan for but were much too perfect for me to not include. I hope you enjoyed it! As always, thank you lovelies for reading, commenting, and liking. It means the world to me.
> 
> And as always, thank you to the wonderful people who beta’d this chapter. zenithBemusement and Juff
> 
> Until next time, *fingerguns*


	7. Lost in Echoes 1.07

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Look at all the red. - Kali, transfixed.

**Turn Your Eyes **   
_ Lost in Echoes 1.07_

My gaze remained fixated on the last spot that I had seen the woman before she had floated out of sight. I could see a hint of red still in the air, if I squinted a little. Biting my lip, I jumped when another explosion echoed through the building.

With a small sound of irritation, I turned and headed for the nearest flight of stairs to chase after the cape. Alex would be running around as Void, judging by the explosions, and any idiot could guess that he was fighting this mysterious villain. Letting my breath out in a huff, I took the stairs two at a time, keeping an ear out for any indication of where the fight might be happening.

Which turned out to be harder than expected. Whenever I heard a crash, or the sound of Void decompressing a space, it echoed through the white halls and stairways. Going by the few times I had been in this airport back when I was in college, I was beginning to wonder if I had any hope of finding them. What if I was going in the wrong direction?

A vending machine blasted through a wall ahead of me, ending up halfway into the next before it stopped. Moving forward, I kept my eyes peeled for movement, expecting the woman to come through the hole. Instead, Void came perilously close to hitting the vending machine before they arrested their momentum.

"Where is she?" I kept my words soft.

"You shouldn't be here," Void growled. "Not in the state you're in."

"What are you — I can help."

"Go find the evacuation group, then, and look for Laura. She might've landed before the attack started."

“But—“

“No. Go before you get one of us hurt. If you find Laura then come and find me.”

Before I could attempt to protest further, not that I really wanted to, they ran through the hole in the wall and shot off out of sight again. With a sigh, I turned around and headed back the way I came. How was I even supposed to find an evacuation group? I didn’t know anything about this place, let alone where anyone might have gone. And since when did people even listen to evacuation plans and not just leave and go away when there was a problem?

Though I suppose if you had just gotten off a plane, or just landed a plane, you’d want to stick together since no one would have a way to leave. As I slid down a railing back to the first floor, I had the bright idea to head outside. Maybe they’d be on the runway or something?

Pushing off of the railing, I stumbled a little upon landing as I went straight into a sprint and headed towards the main hub. There would probably be windows or a door or something that I could exit from there, right?

As I turned a corner, however, I caught sight of a group of people. We all stopped as we saw each other, and I held up my hands.

“Here to help. God, how are you supposed to do this?” I looked at the flight attendants, pointing at one at random. “The front entrance is clear right now, I think anyways. If we all move fast and quiet we can probably avoid this crazy chick breaking things all over the place. And, uh, I’m looking for a…”

I trailed off as I realized that I couldn’t just give out our information or anything. How in the hell was I supposed to find Laura when doing so could jeopardize our lives to any one of these random people?

“How do we know you’re telling the truth?”

Rolling my eyes, wishing the man could see the expression I had for him, I shook my head. “Look, man, I’m a cape. If I wanted to hurt you I could’ve already done it. A lot. Let’s just get out of here before that villain brings the place down on our heads or something.”

The man opened his mouth, probably to protest judging by the look on his face, but a woman several inches shorter than him and wearing a very pretty sundress put a hand on his shoulder, silencing him. With a hard look on her face, she spoke to the man, quietly enough that I couldn’t catch the words, before giving him a shove forward. With a grunt he led the way as the rest of the group quickly followed suit, moving past me silently. And I still didn’t have any idea how to find or separate Laura from anyone else.

“You here with Void?”

I looked behind me to see the woman that had talked to the guy looking at me with a hand on her hip.

“Laura?”

“Keep watch. I managed to keep my carry on with me.”

“What do you mean keep — Oh.”

I felt my cheeks brighten as she glanced over her shoulder and dropped the sundress to the floor next to a bag I hadn’t noticed. With more confidence than I could probably ever hope to have, she pulled out what I quickly realized was a costume. Practically slipping into it, I recognized it as looking similar to Void’s. Dark colors, blues on black, it gave me the impression of looking into space on a dark night. Throwing her hair into a ponytail and slipping on a facemask that covered the lower half of her face, she looked at me expectantly.

“I, uh, you look good. Real good.” Immediately I regretted my words. “I mean, I didn’t… Uhhhhh.”

“You’re kind of adorable. I can see why they took you under their wing,” she said as she practically skipped over and gave me a pat on the head. Looking over her shoulder — how did she look so pretty even in a costume? — she made a series of tuts. “Well, I liked that dress. I’m going to miss it.”

“I can stuff it in my hoodie,” I offered immediately. It _was_ a cute dress and I couldn’t see a reason to leave it behind.

“If you want to. Any idea where the fool is?”

“Void? After the villain. Both are mobile, though, and I’m not. I’d been following the sounds until Void sent me away to find you.”

“Of course. Well, we better hurry then.”

She took the lead, setting off at a jog, and I hurried to catch up. I couldn’t help but watch the way her back shifted, the muscles and shoulder blades moving with each step. With a mental shake, and a silent thanks to the mysterious cape who had given me this mask that covered my entire face as it glowed warm, I tried to focus on our surroundings.

“So, uh, what am I supposed to call you?”

“Pushpin.”

“That’s an interesting name.”

“And you’re intent on flattery and smalltalk, aren’t you?” She giggled as I sputtered. “Relax. It’s fine. What about you? I haven’t heard if you picked one yet or not.”

“Oh, uh, Whisper.”

“It suits you.”

“I guess so. Thanks.”

“Cheer up, bea—“ she paused as an explosion sounded from above us. “Found them. Let’s see…”

She stared at the ceiling above us for a second, looking around before she shook her head before she took off at a full sprint.. “Can’t break through here. We’ll need to catch the stairs before they move on again.”

Chasing after her, our footsteps echoing around us, I couldn’t help the hint of excitement seeping into me. She was so energetic in her words that I couldn’t help but feel myself mirroring her energy.

I skidded as we came to the stairs, my side bouncing off of the railing, before we took them two at a time. Turning my attention to my feet, mostly to make sure I wouldn’t trip myself, I felt my power begin to stir under my hoodie.It dawned on me that in the middle of the day, in a brightly lit airport, I was at a disadvantage compared to the others. Or at least compared to the woman and Void. I wasn’t sure what Pushpin could do, and it didn’t feel right to ask.

We reached the top of the stairs all too soon, however, and I chased after Pushpin as she took a hard right down the corridor. I nearly ran into her as she came to a sudden stop, throwing out my hands to grab her shoulders to stop from bowling the woman over. Before I could ask why we were stopping, I noticed the villain floating with her head cocked at us, bathed in red light.

“You know, we really need to stop meeting like this. Tall, dark, and mysterious really isn’t my type. And I’d hate to get between such an adorable couple,” she said with a smirk. “I’ll get out of your way.”

As she started floating backwards, Pushpin darted forward. Before she could close even half the distance, however, the space between her and the villain was coated in a blue light. As she moved through it I watched her turn red and begin to slow. Within moments she stopped, putting her hands on her hips.

“That’s a dirty trick.”

“All’s fair in love and war, as they say.”

“What’s even the point in attacking an airport, seriously? What is this, some kind of shitty spy film?”

“No, just some casual chaos. Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m kinda in the middle of something.”

As she turned, I heard an explosion from behind her before Void bodily collided with her and the two went sprawling right towards Pushpin. To my surprise, she didn’t try to escape, instead reaching out with her hands towards the villain, as if to catch her. For barely the space of a heartbeat, she made contact before Void and Pushpin were sent flying away from the villain. In the next instant, rubble, trash, cans, and other small debris flew at the cape, collecting on her side where Pushpin had touched her. From her struggle, it seemed that she was unable to remove the conglomerate from her costume.

As I looked behind me at my allies, they stood up without looking any worse for wear, despite the force they had been thrown with. Something to do with their powers, perhaps?

“Whisper, don’t just stand there!” Void’s warning came a moment too late, the words having barely registered before I felt myself being yanked away from them and off my feet.

“Alright, you want to play rough, then we’ll play fucking rough.” I looked at the red lips of the villain as she wiped away some dust on her sleeve. “How about we see if she’s able to withstand being thrown as easily as you two?”

She used her power on me, and I was stuck, trapped under her control. I could already feel the needles against my skin, pressing in, as I turned my eyes to meet hers.

“Let. Me. Go.”

“Oh, I will soon enough. As soon as your friends there get the hint to fuck off.”

“I said to LET. ME. GO.”

Ink-black tendrils shot out from my sleeves, hood, everywhere that they could around me as I screamed, and lashed out at the villain. She weaved, trying to escape, while my power reached for her and my scream stuttered as my throat gave out.

With a thud, I fell to the ground, landing on my hands and knees as red splashed across the dull walls, coating the tiled floor. Looking up at her retreating figure, I _pushed_, tendrils splitting off from other tendrils as I reached for her, grasping for anything to make her pay. With a scream, I lashed out and the hall turned various shades of blue, red, and purple; with a deafening series of crashes and splintering, the entire floor around her buckled, caving in as her power ripped the area apart. Before I could reach her again, she fell out of sight, hidden behind the collapsing area. With a growl low in my throat, I scrambled to my feet to give chase.

“Whisper, wait!”

I ignored the voices behind me, running forward and jumping into the gap. A flicker of blue pulled me forward, the color shifting to red, and my fall turned into a glide, until it flickered out and I dropped the last ten feet to the floor below. Jumping across the pieces of floor, ceiling, and wall, I headed towards where I thought she might have fallen. Tendrils lashed out as I ran, growing out of the crevices in the rubble, and I found a gaping hole in the wall before me. Skidding to a halt at the threshold of the hall, I peered outside. 

Gnashing my teeth together, I squared my shoulders and strode forward. I was done playing.

I was done being a cape’s plaything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there’s chapter seven! I hope you enjoyed it, and hopefully it wasn’t too boring? I know not a lot happened this chapter…
> 
> As always, thank you to the wonderful people who helped make this chapter possible, Juff and those who chose to remain anonymous.
> 
> Until next time, remember:  
Don’t trigger the traumatized cape. ;D


	8. Lost in Echoes 1.08

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Turn Your Eyes** updates after a short hiatus with _Lost in Echoes 1.08_ in which things explode, break, implode, and we see more red. People get introduced and Kali needs more hugs.
> 
> Oh and there's flashbacks, hallucinations, or something I guess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Reilgun. Thanks for everything and for helping me get to a place where I could come back to this. Y’all should read Fade if you haven’t yet.   
https://archiveofourown.org/series/1514456

**Turn Your Eyes**  
_Lost in Echoes 1.08_

The world around me was blindingly bright. Bricks seemed to glow in the light from where they’d been strewn across the tarmac, the planes sitting abandoned all but shining, and even the runway seemed to have a glow to it.

Or maybe that was just the runway lights. Were those on during the day?

I shook my head and pushed forward. The villain had obviously been working towards an escape before something had happened that I didn’t think was intended. Why would she destroy the corridor if she was just going to fall with it? Couldn’t she fly?

A trail of red caught my eyes, and I stalked after it. It was an uneven trail, spotty at best, but as I drew close to an airliner I could hear the ragged breathing of the cape behind the wheels.

“You got some hot buttons, hot stuff,” she said as I stopped a few feet away. Her head poked out the side experimentally. “If you want to keep the gloves off by all means feel free. But fair warning, I’m going to stop playing nice after what you just did.”

“You belong in a cell.”

“And you belong in a padded room.” My jaw twitched as I inhaled sharply. “So let’s call it even, and I’ll go about my business to lick the wounds you caused that almost killed me, and you can do whatever it was you were even here for.”

When I hesitated, she stepped out from behind the wheel with her hands raised. Not that that mattered much when she didn’t need her hands to use her power. I tensed, ready for her to pull something, but she just started backing away slowly.

“Your call, hero. Walk away… or fight? Do you think you can beat me, regardless of what it’ll cost?”

My fingers dug into my palms, the shadows beneath the plane writhing. A moment passed before I lunged, inky tendrils extending, and she shook her head.

“Your choice, cute stuff,” she said almost sadly as she rose into the air out of range of any shadows that I could feel. I stopped as the area was bathed in red and blue light, feeling a force pulling me down towards the ground. Pulling my head up, my eyes searching for her, I froze as I watched the plane lift off of the ground. My hold on my shadows weakened until I let go, and I was reduced to a mere spectator while she kept me pinned and lifted the plane higher and higher with each passing moment.

“Whisper!” a voice yelled from somewhere behind me.

“Remember the name Polaris, cutie. And remember that I’m out of your weight class.”

A series of explosions erupted from behind me at the same time that the plane shot towards me like a ridiculously oversized bullet. I closed my eyes, going limp, knowing that this was it.

The air around me crackled and I jerked, bouncing across the tarmac as I tumbled and rolled. More explosions rang out while I pulled myself to my feet, the ground shaking beneath my feet, and I swayed where I stood. Trying to find my bearings, I watched as two figures ran across the tarmac towards me, fire and small explosions erupting behind them, while I tried to find where the cape had gone.

She seemed to have disappeared, and the airport was all but rubble in her wake. I recognized the plane, or rather what remained of it, right as Void and Pushpin came to a panting halt in front of me.

“What the absolute fuck were you thinking?” Pushpin exploded moments later after catching her breath. My jaw twitched as I bit back a retort, the muscles jumping. “You could’ve gotten yourself killed!”

“So? I’m fine. It’s fine. It’s not like it matters anyways. She’s gone now, the day is saved.” The words out of my mouth were little more than a growl, and I almost immediately regretted the sound. I looked away instead of looking at them. What else was I supposed to have done? Harping at me wasn’t going to change anything, and it wasn’t like it was my fault that that freak had attacked an airport of all things.

“That’s not the point! Holy shit, are you just suicidal or something? She threw a plane at you. A _plane_. Do you not get how lucky you are not to be paste right now? If it wasn’t for Void you’d be dead right now.”

I was about to bite out a retort when she stepped forward and my muscles tensed instinctively. Void held out a hand, stopping her, and boiling indignation rolled through me. What did they think I was, some kind of monster?

They weren’t exactly wrong.

“We need to leave. Unless you want to stick around to try and explain this to the PRT. We’ll change and get a ride home. We’re allies here, not enemies,” Void said gruffly. I could feel the judgement in their gaze behind their helmet, boring into me like my parents’ disappointment. They shook their head slightly before Pushpin turned and stalked off, leaving the two of us alone in silence, besides the echoes as more of the building collapsed.

“I need you to do better, Kali. Please.”

My feet were rooted to the tarmac as they walked away after Pushpin, and the words stabbed into me. Angrily I rubbed at my face and the tears welling up against my will beneath my mask, stamping down on the scream that threatened to break through my throat.

“...I’m trying. Why is it so hard?”

_”You’re going straight to your room. I don’t want to hear a peep out of you after what you did. I’m disgusted, and you should be ashamed.” Dad’s voice broke through the silence as we finally pulled into the driveway. “You know better. We raised you better than this.”_

_Throwing the door open, I scampered out of the truck and through the front door as fast as I could move. With the soft click of my door shutting behind me, I sank to the floor and buried my head in my knees and strangled a sob before it could pass into hearing range._

_I couldn’t tell them anymore. Just pretend. Be what they want you to be, Jace, be what you’re supposed to be._

_Don’t be a freak._

The rest of the day was a blur as we dealt with the insurance claim, getting a car delivered, and dealing with questions from PRT Officers. I was spared that disaster thanks to Alex’s quick thinking and the fact that I couldn’t stop shaking, but the silence on the ride back to town was arguably worse than everything else so far. It reminded me of memories I’d rather not think about, and on more than one occasion I found myself flinching as someone moved in the edge of my vision.

They pitied me, I could feel it. It seeped off of them in waves, alongside the disappointment and rage hiding beneath the surface, waiting for a point where it could be released without having to worry about onlookers. Not that I didn’t deserve it at this point.

Why couldn’t I do anything right?

_”Where did you get this?”_

_I froze in mid step, turning around jerkily, as I tried to think what he might be talking about. Shoving my hands into my pockets to try and stop the shaking, I looked over the kitchen counter to where my dad stood with a small black box._

_“What’s that?” Fuck, my voice wavered. His eyes narrowed at me and I winced._

_“You tell me. It was in your bag.”_

_“Why were you going through my bag?”_

_“This is my house, my rules. If I want to go through your goddamn bag then I will. Answer the question.”_

_“I don’t know what it is. Taylor asked me if I could take something since she was leaving her bag at school and I guess I forgot I had it when she got off the bus.”_

_“Then you wouldn’t care if I rang up Mrs. Sawter right now.”_

_“I...no, I wouldn’t. I’ll miss the start of the races though.”_

_“You’re not going.”_

_“What? Why? I did all the chores and then some. You said—“_

_“—And now I’m saying you’re not going. The wood needs to be split and stacked.”_

_I stared at him incredulously for a moment before I looked down and slinked away._

_I just want to be treated like a human being again._

“Kali, can we talk?” My gaze shifted up from where I was picking up glass shards from the carpet to see Laura standing awkwardly in the doorway.

“Yeah, I guess,” I said after a moment of hesitation. I dumped the rest of the glass into the bag I’d gotten and sat back against the wall to cover the marks in the paint.

“I want to apologise. That whole thing earlier was stressful enough, and I should’ve done more to help you instead of taking my emotions out on you. You scared me, but that’s no reason to yell.” Her voice was filled with an anxiousness that I was all too familiar with.

“Its fine, Laura. I fucked up, I get it. I’ll do better in the future.”

“No, Kali. That was, what, your first cape fight since you got powers, yeah? I should’ve pushed for us to stay out of it. You didn’t need to put yourself at risk and I should’ve done something better than what I did.”

“It’s not your fault that I fucked up, Laura. Alright? That’s on me. I’ll just have to figure my shit out and move on. Not like I can go out and find a shrink or something.”

“... I think you’re blaming yourself too much. Just remember to take care of yourself, Kali. You’re going to get hurt if you just try to bulldoze your way forward. Eventually you’ll find someone tougher, smarter, or just plain better than you and luck won’t help you.”

“Well, thanks, I’ll keep that in mind next time anyone bothers to tell me anything,” I snapped, banging my head against the wall. “I can’t do anything better if everyone keeps trying to coddle me. I’m not useless.”

The silence stretched on for a few minutes before she broke it. “You’re right. We’ll take some time to run you through the basics we’ve figured out, alright? Tomorrow work for you?”

“I… Yeah, I’d appreciate that. Instead of just being pulled around.”

“I’m making pasta if you’re hungry. No pressure, alright?”

“Yeah, I could eat I guess.”

She seemed to hesitate, unsure if she wanted to leave or stay, before she walked away in silence. Dropping my head onto my knees, I took a deep, shuddering breath. Why were people so difficult to deal with?

_“Out.”_

_“What?”_

_“You heard me. Get out. I want your perverted, twisted face out of my house, and I don’t want to see you again until you stop being a fucking freak. I raised my son better than this.”_

_“Are you fucking serious? After everything I’ve done, all the help I’ve given, the amount of blood and sweat I’ve shed for you you’re going to pull this? I’ve done everything right.”_

_The next thing I knew I was on the floor, the taste of copper on my tongue, looking up at my father’s looming figure. Struggling to raise my arm as his fist pulled back, I closed my eyes — _

“Fuck!” I wiped the sweat from my face while I shook my head to bring my mind back to the present. Alex looked over their gloves cautiously, lowering them slightly as I spun in a half circle and stalked away several steps.

“We can stop. No need to push yourself,” they said calmly.

“No, I’m fine. Just keep getting sucked into shit I don’t need to be thinking about. Come on, what’s wrong with it?”

“Alright, fine. You’re winding into your punches. Throwing yourself into them. Leaving yourself open for anyone who knows what they’re doing. And that’s not even taking into account powers. There was a guy in the first city I was in who could take you apart in seconds if you got sloppy. No idea how he did it.” They chewed on their lip for a moment. “Look, how about we take a break from that and work on how well you can dodge?”

With a grunt I took a defensive stance.

The cracks and pops of the fire reminded me of so many nights spent laughing. As well as those spent screaming. Two separate monsters, sitting on the edge of my mind, as the darkness coiled and snaked across the floor around me. The events of the day danced across my thoughts as I bounced between events and the shadows of my past echoed between the words.

I didn’t know what to do other than keep moving forward. Could I get better? Or would I be throwing duck tape on the cracks of my psyche until the day I died, thanks to them?

I picked up the landline hesitantly, punching in a star code before dialing a number I wish I could have forgotten.

There wasn’t even a ring before it went to voicemail, the bog standard machine recording mocking me, and the tone rang sharp in my ear.

“... I don’t know why I’m calling, it’s not like you ever gave a shit, but I just... Look, stay out of Pixie, Ash. Don’t come home, don’t come back, and don’t look back. There’s nothing but rot and death here. Stay out before the demons get their hooks into you, alright? Just listen to me for once, please… I miss you, but go fuck yourself sis. Consider this a debt paid.” Setting the phone down, I stood up and heading towards my bed.

After everything that had happened, I had to at least try.

_We’re going to fix this shithole. Your days are numbered, Brewer. You and your stupid fucking group._

My eyes drifted closed, and my last thoughts before I finally gave in to the exhaustion was of the color red and the tingle of lips against my skin.


	9. Lost in Echoes Interlude: Brewer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of the first arc comes to an end, and with that comes a new beginning. And with a new beginning comes new possibilities.
> 
> And with new possibilities, we learn that nothing is ever as it seems.
> 
> "The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it." - H. D. Thoreau

**Turn Your Eyes**  
_Lost in Echoes  
Brewer_

If there was one thing he hated, it was interruptions. Interruptions in his work, in his life — they were nothing more than an annoyance that he needed to squash.

And today was full of things that needed to be ground beneath his boot.

“What?” he snapped, whirling around as the door to his lab opened again. Red Letter paused, feigning indignation, before she slammed the door behind her. He growled at the jangle of glass from the force, but she ignored him. In her hands was a needle-like blade connected to a series of tubes that went underneath her apron, and with a flick some blood splattered the floor between them. A muscle twitched in his jaw but he refrained from forcing her to drink something that would set her in her place. “I told everyone to leave me to my work.”

“Tough shit. Origin wants an update.” Her words were detached as she inspected the blade in her hand, but he didn’t miss the sly look she gave him as she spoke. More interruptions with her stupid little games instead of getting to the point immediately.

“Of course.” With a sigh he took the vials in his hands and put them into some holders, turning off his equipment. With a shake of his head he motioned for Red Letter to leave, growling slightly as she didn’t budge. “_What?_”

“It’s a full meeting. All of us are being pulled in.”

“Why would she pull everyone in now? The next check in wasn’t scheduled for another three weeks.”

“Probably because of that giant failure of yours at your little playground.” The words were mocking, accusatory even. A failure beyond his control. How had Origin heard about it in advance?

No, she couldn’t have. Red Letter was simply toying with him. More attempts at mind games.

Roughly he shoved her out of the way as he yanked the door open, ignoring her as she stuck her tongue out at him childishly. He set off down the hallway briskly, stopping at the elevator before presenting his hand to the scanner for identification. He didn’t wince as a small needle jabbed into his ring finger before the door opened and he stepped in. Seconds later Red Letter slid in, leaning casually against the wall with a taunting smirk.

“You think she’ll demote you? You did screw up pretty big. Ooooh, or maybe she’ll take you aside and—”

“—Or maybe she’ll let me force a vial down your throat to shut you up permanently. Think your tech can stop the bleeding from broken glass on your insides before you bleed out?” he asked in a deathly still voice, finally turning to look at her. “Or maybe you’re volunteering to be the example for Psychosis? Or is this how you ask me to cut you off from Heartbeat permanently, make you get it from the streets like the dog you are?”

“Hey, fuck you. I’m just having some fun, you limp-dicked prick.”

“Have your fun somewhere else.”

“God, you can’t even play along. Fucking stick in the mud, that’s what you are Brewer. Always so buried in your stupid fucking lab.” She looked like she wanted to say more but shook her head as the elevator came to a stop and she stepped out first.

He followed close behind, silent except for the clink of vials and beakers and leather, before taking his place at the table third from the head. As he passed the tinker he muttered an insult, a parting shot. A few minutes went by before the doors opened again and two more walked in. The first he avoided looking at, ignoring the fractal pieces moving and struggling to escape the center as their body splintered apart, before the pieces rejoined in the seat next to him as a single figure in a black bodysuit with a gaping, jagged mouth. The other moved agonizingly slowly, rubbing at the unkempt red hair jutting out from his head before he brushed a hand across the red and black suit he was wearing and straightened his domino mask. When he sat down in the seat across from the one in the bodysuit, everyone turned their attention towards the head of the table and the door opposite of the elevator.

Almost as if on cue, the door burst into flames, burning down into ash, and a woman who looked more suited for being in a rock band stepped through the smoke as the flames flared back up and the door burned in reverse. In moments it was like nothing had happened besides the lingering heat and smoke, as the woman with electric blue hair took her seat across from Brewer. She kicked up her feet, heels clacking against the mahogany table as she leaned back as far as the chair would allow her without falling.

He took a deep breath, ignoring the antics of his superior, before the door opened again and most everyone’s backs went just a little straighter. Another woman stepped in, her costume covered in tubes and containment systems that were filled with an indescribable inky substance that was blacker than black. Her face was obscured by a smooth metal mask, coated in a white and black gradient, with sharp horn-like protrusions jutting out of the forehead. Where her eyes would be were two narrow slits that were as dark as the substance in her tubes.

She sat down, her fingers clacking the metal claw tips on her fingers against the table as she surveyed them slowly, and when she spoke her voice was filled with cold indifference.

“Stigmata, Reckoner.” There was a brief pause where the only sound was the clack of her fingers before she continued. “Report.”

Reckoner shattered again, reforming within the same second. “That group of kids. Been poking their noses. Around again. Scared them off. Think they’re just. Buncha kids. Not going to the PRT. Quiet otherwise.” Reckoner’s voice was as infuriatingly stilted as always, it seemed. He shot her an annoyed look that she wouldn’t see through his mask, grinding his teeth as she split and reformed again. Couldn’t she just control herself for one meeting?

“Eh, I took care of some competition when I was checking on the supply lines. Couple of hicks thought they could budge in on our turf up north. Won’t be budging in anymore, I guess,” Stigmata’s utterly bored voice interrupted his thoughts. “Them making that Protectorate building down in Pixie Hollow stirred the nest in a few places, but whatever. Nothing we need to worry about.”

“Red Letter? How is the testing proceeding?”

“A-oh-kay,” Red Letter said cheerfully. “I think I’ve made some serious headway on my gear. I think I might even be able to make something soon where the initial launch period doesn’t rely on draining yourself first. But preliminary testing is advancing slowly. Seems like a bit of a block, so I’ve not been putting a ton of time into it in favor of keeping other projects moving. I’ll have the next shipment ready by next week, four days ahead of the projected timeline.”

“Good, very good. Brewer?”

“Mhmm. I managed to finalize Psychosis’ composition in my last batch of testing, showing perfect results in Subject 24. With permission I could perform further pushing of our bottom line, keep an eye out for anyone attempting to undercut us. Heartbeat is proceeding as expected, and I estimate that it will be ready to ship down south within a few weeks. The other projects are advancing at an acceptable rate, except for Wavelength. I’ve been unable to determine why Subject 24 was resistant to its effects."

"Tell the boss about the warehouse loss, Brew. About how you—"

"—I was getting to it, _thank you_ for interrupting. Again." His words were laced with venom. “On January second my primary testing site was attacked by an unknown assailant. Given the remains I think it’s unlikely to have been more than two at most. As far as I have been able to discern, nothing was stolen except one body. My guard was burned alive when the building was set aflame, as were the failed test subjects. It seems that 24 may have been taken, though whether alive or dead is unknown at this time. My men arrived on site approximately fifteen minutes after the inferno started, but were unable to track down the individuals responsible.”

There was a moment of silence as Origin turned her head to look at him, before a rushing sound roared through the room. He gasped as his chair toppled over, and with a crash he hit the ground, seeing the mangled remains of half of the legs of his chair out of the corner of his eye. A series of sharp clicks rang out through the room as Origin drummed her fingers on the table. A sound he’d heard often enough.

But never because of him.

“Stand.”

Swallowing, he stood slowly. Red Letter was looking away, and Flashpoint was reading through a packet someone had passed his way. The rest, to his irritation, were watching him with what he knew was excitement.

“How long have you been my third, Brewer?”

“For fi—”

“Five years. Yes. Tell me, Brewer, was I not clear during those five years?”

“Mhmm?”

“You heard me. Was I not clear about my expectations? Did I stutter somewhere? Perhaps I took your intelligence for granted and made something unclear by proxy. Tell me, Brewer, when in all these years was a failure of this magnitude _acceptable_?”

His gaze was locked on the dark slits of her mask, unwilling to move even a fraction as the sharp clicks of her claws against the table turned into a screech of protest when she dug them into the wood. Before he could struggle to find a response that might lessen the damage, she was in front of him, and he felt the breath forced out of his lungs with the impact against the wall. Cold metal dug into the sides of his neck, slowly pushing deeper until he could practically hear the skin split and the warmth of his own blood slid down skin and metal. A soft plop reached his ears as a droplet hit the ground.

His breathing shortened into pants as his feet left the floor, the grip on his neck tightening until he couldn’t draw in air at all. A roaring filled his ears, thrumming across his skin, before he crumpled to the ground in a heap of blood and gasps. Slowly, his gaze turned upwards, catching Origin as she stopped by the doorway, black lines striking out around her. Where they connected with the door and walls they simply deleted the offending matter, as if to say that not even something as trivial as physical obstacles were allowed in her way. She looked over her shoulder, the curtain of long black hair shifting with the movement, as the roaring stopped. In that instant all the effects stopped and she looked no different from when she had stepped into the room. But he could feel the coldness of her gaze upon him.

“I expect to not be disappointed again, Brewer. Fix this.” The words were an order, absolute, and for a moment he felt relief flood his veins before they froze solid with her next words. “Or I will.”

He didn’t dare move as she stepped through the door without another word, her stiletto heels the last thing he saw of her before Flashpoint shut what remained of the door behind her .

And then there was silence. Again.

Stigmata let out half of a chuckle before he stood up and headed towards the elevator with Reckoner. They were already talking before the elevator door opened, discussing where to focus their efforts next.

He barely caught a word of it.

“Sorry.” Red Letter was standing at the end of the table, looking anywhere but at him.

“Fuck you.”

“Shut the fuck up, asswipe. I didn’t know it was that bad, for fucks sake. Maybe if you fucking communicated with your partner I could have backed you up or helped fix this before it had been a problem for two fucking weeks.”

“Bitch.”

“Yeah, okay, whatever. You just got turned into a bitch in front of everyone. I’m taking all your shit when she kills you next meeting for not fixing it.”

“She won’t.”

“Sure, because you’re her little pet? No, dumbass, that’s Flashpoint. You’re making problems, and that’s going to outweigh what you bring to the table. So what are we going to do to fix this?”

“Find 24. Teach whoever lit the fire a lesson about who not to fuck with. Stop these interruptions.”

“Work with me, asshat.”

For the first time since they’d been paired together months ago, Brewer actually looked at Red Letter. The determination in her eyes, the fire burning beneath the surface. And he felt a spark of inspiration.

“Fine. We’re going to go look at some samples that I still have from 24. I think I know how you can prove yourself useful…”

“About fucking time, old man.”

Stopping at the elevator, Brewer looked back at the mangled door. He wasn’t entirely sure what Origin did exactly, even after all these years, but the way that she destroyed everything around her…

Not for the first time, he wondered why they were called The Makers if their leader was so antithetical to what everyone else did.

Shaking his head, he shoved the thought out of his mind as he reached for his throat gingerly. His Subject would pay dearly if she was still alive. He’d make sure she paid more than whoever had decided to cross him and interrupt his work. With a grin stretching across his lips, he let himself imagine what it would be like when he got his hands on them.

_Hide among the sheep all you want, 24. I’m coming for you, and you_ will _be mine again. You might have forgotten, but I haven’t._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with this interlude done, I want to take the time to thank every one of you readers who've stuck through so far. This has been an insanely new adventure for me, and there's been a lot of ups and downs for a variety of reasons. I can't stress how thankful I am to everyone for reading, and here's to many more words to come.
> 
> I also want to give special thanks to Juff for all the beta help. You're fucking amazing, mate, and I appreciate everything you do for people.
> 
> And Rei. Thanks for helping give me my writing spirit back when it was faltering. This wouldn't be continuing without you and the help you've given, or the fun of working with you on Fade.


	10. Lost in Echoes Character Page

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All the characters from arc one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with this, arc one officially closes out. While some of these characters don't have a lot of info on them at this point in time, I tried to include everything that has been shown so far.
> 
> There will also not be an update next week, fair warning, but arc two, Demons Inside Everyone, will officially kick off with 2.1 on January 17th. Probably sometime around this time of day if everything goes well. :o
> 
> Big thanks to everyone who's stuck with the story so far, and for all the amazing people who have helped beta this along the way. I love y'all, and here's to many more!

**Turn Your Eyes**  
_Lost in Echoes Character List_

**Whisper**, Kali Iris, a young trans woman with a penchant against capes, caught in a bad situation by villain Brewer, she got her wildest dreams made into reality when her body was altered by his tinkertech potions. The price? Months as a test subject, used for horrible and terrible experiments and unthinkable crimes. Freed by mysterious cape Void at the time of her own trigger, she starts her quest for recovery and revenge against the man who destroyed her.

**Brewer**, Name Unknown, a mysterious tinker who offered to help Kali in return for a few favors. Proceeded to kidnap her and use her to further his experiments. Produces and distributes tinker drugs for The Makers.

**Void**, Alex, a mysterious cape who rescued Kali and has since offered her a place to live and help to get back on her feet, as well as a partnership to stamp out the villains in the area. Has an expansive information collective and ability to gather resources and information easily.

**Tiger Lily**, Name Unknown, a mysterious, and young, cape who offered Kali advice while she wandered in the snow. Also gave her a mask and inspiration for Kali’s cape name.

**Polaris**, Name Unknown, a mysterious villain who attacked a nearby airport. Upon Alex and Kali’s arrival, they got involved and the fight turned ugly fast after Kali got involved directly. Showed versatility with her power, which involved red and blue glowing fields, and is responsible for the near wholesale destruction of the airport.

**Pushpin**, Laura, a partner of Alex, with unshown powers. Is highly respected by Alex.

**Red Letter**, Name Unknown, a tinker for The Makers who works with blood.

**Stigmata**, Name Unknown, an enforcer for The Makers, known for his apparent apathy and blatantly cruel streak.

**Reckoner**, Name Unknown, an enforcer for The Makers, known for being a monster among villains with little more information outside of whispered rumors.

**Flashpoint**, Name Unknown, the Right Hand to the leader of The Makers. Has displayed the ability to both spontaneously ignore objects as well as reverse the effect.

**Origin**, Name Unknown, leader of The Makers, has shown abilities that have a deleterious effect.

* * *

I also want to take the time to share the wonderful art of Kali done by the ever talented Pericardium. 

As always, thank you lovelies so much for reading. There will be a short delay in posting, but expect 2.1 to release on the 17th.

Until then,  
<3 ~Alice~ <3  
Aka Old Amsterdam


	11. Demons Inside Everyone 2.01

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **Turn Your Eyes** returns after its very short Hiatus with the first chapter of arc two, _Demons Inside Everyone_. Kali does some snooping, there's some talking, and what's this? It's the official start of Fade Your Eyes, the so called event where _Fade_ and _TYE_ are canonical to each other. Shock, gasp, surprise, oh my!
> 
> Oh, and I guess Kali gets some more trauma because that's a thing that needs to happen. kthnxbai.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to Juff, Zen, and Mads for betaing this chapter.
> 
> Also thanks to Reilgun for going with my dumb idea to canonize our fics to each other. <3

**Turn Your Eyes**  
_Demons Inside Everyone 2.01_

* * *

Everything outside was blinding, the sun reflecting off of the snow in a way that left one always adjusting. Always a little shy of being used to it, eyes on the verge of watering just from looking at it. After spending most of my time in dark places, it left me more irritable than I wanted to admit.

As such, I elected to stay home instead of going out with Alex and Laura. Plus, I figured they could use some time to themselves, since they seemed to be a thing, as far as I could tell. And it was the absolute least I could do for them after everything they had done for me so far. Shopping, saving my life more than once, helping me to train my new body.

I still wasn’t sure what was their deal, exactly. They were pretty tight lipped about their pasts, not that I couldn’t blame them on that front, and it seemed like they had done a lot together and as capes in general. But the specifics left me wondering about them. The depth of their relationship was confusing to me, as well, and I wasn’t sure how much of that was just my unfamiliarity with relationships of any kind that weren’t broken beyond repair or otherwise lopsided. With them gone, however, I was quickly finding myself bored beyond belief. The gnawing _need_ was raking itself across my veins, and I was running out of simple distractions.

While I could entertain the various theories I had made up about my comrades, there wasn’t much new that I could explore that I hadn’t already done a million times over. Snatching an apple from the basket on the counter, my eyes landed on Alex’s laptop sitting open in the corner, just like always.

Biting my lip, I set the apple back down and glanced back down the hall towards the front door. They hadn’t been gone very long, and it sounded like they were going to be gone for most of the day. I could look at whatever Alex kept open to check leads and information. A quick peak and then I could go find something to keep myself busy. They wouldn’t know any better, and I deserved to know, didn’t I?

Hell, I knew more about the area than either of them did. What if there was something that they were overlooking without even realizing that it was abnormal for our weird ass town? What if they were missing something that would lead us to _him_?

What if there was something on there that would tell me more about them? Could I really trust them? They were capes.

Chewing on my lip, I walked around the counter. The screen waited for me, beckoning me closer, and with one final, furtive look around me I leaned on the counter and looked.

The screen was dark, bright white letters, numbers, and symbols jumping out against the background. It looked like a spreadsheet, and on a closer look it was covered in names of places and people with various shorthand notes following after them that I couldn’t follow. I couldn’t say that it was interesting — just looking at it made me bored — but another window drew my attention.

Pulling it up, my eyes rested on a text file that I could actually make sense of.

_Heartbeat, described as a need, a desire. Street level drug, source between streets and Brewer unknown. Highly addictive. Keep away from Kali._

_Pixie, lots of unknown crime sources. Spreads further? Can’t connect dots, missing information. Enough for a new Protectorate building nearby. Indie heroes and villains, should talk?_

_Beast, no info. Rumors, but trackable corpses. Connected or something else?_

_Reports of a boogeyman? Nothing definable. Gang related? Cape? Serial killer?_

_Kids died from complications from Kali’s attack. Do not tell. Power has hidden application, dangerous. Very connected to her without her realizing, see power use that I don’t think is conscious. Needs training._

_Lifeline moving. Where? Why? Tracking? Need to keep an eye on her._

_Mesmer off the grid. Bad. May be making moves. Need to keep L close._

_Too little information. Too many factors. Area may not have been as good a choice as previously thought. Can’t back out now. Will move to Phase Two soon._

That was a lot to unpack. The amount of speculation was an insight into how Alex worked, but I couldn’t stop focusing on the part about my powers. I’d killed those kids? I had blood on my hands?

How much of me was me anymore? Was it from Brewer, or was it from the powers? Was I being corrupted, turned into a monster without realizing it? Was I becoming the freak that my family claimed I was?

A sudden, sharp ding rang out from the laptop, causing me to jump and bounce my head off of the cabinets above. Cursing and rubbing my scalp as pain thrummed through my skull, I looked at the message that had pulled itself up on the screen.

_Will send link to video later for backup. Power info. No luck on the other thing yet. Cape out in Remure has cancer in his eyes, from his power. Named Radar, local Protectorate leader. Big scandal unfolding. Not sure if he’s staying as leader yet, looks bad. Can’t find a lot of other credible sources for powers breaking the self-Manton Limit. Keep you updated._

Now what the hell was this? This didn’t feel like something that was related to me, but why was Alex looking into powers that were fucking up the user? Is that what this was? God, cancer from your own power?

My gaze shifted to my hands, and I wondered if my power was doing something like that to me. Was I a walking time bomb, in more than one way? Would I just wake up one day and have my entire life cut short because of powers that I didn’t even want?

Another chime rang out, and another message joined the first.

_Missing person list sent through the usual channel. Heads up that it’s huge, though. Looks like your mystery girl wasn’t the only one who disappeared and this looks big, V. Careful not to get in over your head. I’ll keep digging, but my power is pulling the black. I repeat, be careful._

I stood back up, shaking my head, and headed towards me room. There was a lot more going on behind the scenes that I hadn’t noticed, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. It was confusing, irritating even, to be kept out of the loop. But at the same time I couldn’t really blame Alex for not telling me some of these things. I fell onto the bed face first, stifling a scream, while the mangled bodies of those kids flashed across my eyelids.

I’d killed them. Had I gotten anyone killed with my crap at the airport?

Was it my fault that that little girl hadn’t survived the testing?

How much of these problems were my doing? How many lives had I brought to an end by my actions? Was I causing nothing but pain, suffering, and death to those I met?

Did I deserve what I'd been through?

My mind drifted, jumping between topics and emotions before settling on a thrumming, nervous energy that had me pacing my room. What had been aimless thoughts were quickly becoming scattered, flitting from thought to thought as I tried to fit the pieces together. There was a connection there that I was missing. Something just beneath the surface, waiting for me to find it, to put the jagged edges together and fill in the blanks between the lines.

Alex’s notes made a few mentions that stood out to me. This boogeyman rumor that I hadn’t heard about before now. The mysterious connections to get the drugs out. Was it possible that Brewer's operation was larger than I had expected? Unknown crime sources… Was it possible that it was all related back to him? I already knew he was putting all kinds of drugs out there, Heartbeat primarily. Was it really a stretch of the imagination to connect these other incidents, the influx in crime and incidents in the area to him?

The lock on the door twisted and I tensed instinctively before Alex’s voice drifted through the house.

“We’re back. Picked up a pizza if you’re hungry.”

Peeking my head out from my room, the smell from the food drifting down the hall made my stomach grumble, and I hesitantly moved towards the living room. The two of them were already sitting on the couch, a box open on the table, and the laptop was sitting between them. My eyes flicked over them, but I couldn’t find a trace of anger. Snagging a slice of pizza as I slid into the chair across from them, we ate in silence, except for the sounds from the fire and the occasional clicks coming from the laptop as Alex looked through what I assumed were the messages.

There was a moment of panic as I realized that with the pop ups I hadn’t changed back to the original screen that the laptop had been on. Had they noticed?

“So, Kali, I think now’s as good a time as any to talk.”

My muscles felt ready to snap as I swallowed, raising an eyebrow at them. _Don’t give away what you saw._

“Now that we’re getting ready to move forward with tracking down Brewer, and my research and contacts have gotten as much info as I think we’re going to get, there’s a few things that I think we need to tell you. Because it’s not going to be just us versus Brewer.” They paused, waiting for a reaction that I didn’t give, before continuing. “Laura and I have a troubled past. We actually got our powers together, alongside two others. There’s a chance that those two track us down here, separately, and get in the way of what we’re doing here. Their names are Mesmer and Lifeline, and the first is much more of a problem.”

“What kind of problem?” I asked as they paused again. “Like, are they just holding a grudge or…?”

“Something like that, though we don’t know why. He’s fixated on killing Laura, obsessed if you will, and he has a habit of showing up at some very inopportune times. Usually with a following.”

“A following? What, like, a gang?”

“Like people he’s brainwashed.”

“Oh. Well fuck.”

“Lifeline is less of an issue, but she’s been erratic ever since she first appeared. We’re not sure where she came from, but she insists that she’s tied to all of us and that she’s going to bring everyone together. Something to watch out for.”

“I’ll try to keep them in mind.”

“But we’re looking at a bigger problem. Brewer can’t be tracked down through normal means, unless I want to call in some favors that would give us more problems than solutions. We’re going to have to start at ground level and work our way up.”

“That’s fine. I don’t see why that’s a problem.”

“Because it’ll take a lot longer.”

“I have the rest of my life.”

“And it means you’re going to be around more Heartbeat and people using it. And I don’t know if that’s something I should be worried about.”

“It’ll be fine. I’ll be fine. Where do we start?”

Alex and Laura shared a look. “By heading out in an hour or two and driving to a secluded spot in the woods where the villains of most of the state and then some have a meetup.”

“Why would we do that?”

“Because it’s the easiest way to get information. And it’s not unusual for non-villains to appear. There’s rules, and we’ll find out what the specific ones are here when we get there.”

“And how the fuck did you find this place?” A hint of suspicion slipped into my voice before I clamped down on it.

“It’s part of learning about an area. As long as you’re affiliated with the Protectorate or PRT it’s not that hard to find out about.”

“Uh huh. I assume costumes on then?”

“Yeah, of course. You’re okay with going?” I didn’t miss the unasked question. _Will you behave?_

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s just get this over with.”

I stood up to leave but Laura cleared her throat. “We’ll need to have our story together if anyone asks. That we’re passing through and want to set up base in Pixie. We’ll want to be careful with what we say, in case Brewer has people there. Last thing we want is to make it obvious that we’re looking for him and know more than we should.”

“Yeah, I’m not stupid. It’ll be fine. I’ll let you two do most of the talking anyways.” With a shrug I headed towards my room to dig out my so-called costume.

Finally I had direction. Information was being shared, even if it wasn’t all of it, and I could start getting proper answers. This would be the first of many steps in properly getting my revenge. To show everyone who thought they could just control and manipulate me and use me that I wasn’t their toy.

I was owned by no one but myself.

_Keep telling yourself that._

Taking a deep breath, I shoved down the self-doubt that bubbled to the surface. Slipping on the hoodie, I pulled the mask out of the pocket I’d stuffed it into and sat down on the bed.

Grandma had always said that the first step was the hardest. And tonight would be the first step on a path that I didn’t think I could turn away from once I started. I had one last chance to turn around and just forget about all this, leave, and run from my problems. Again.

But I was tired of running. Running away for a degree that didn’t matter. Running away from my family and their shit. Running away from my life. Running away from the shadows where he could be waiting if I let my guard down.

No. The more I thought about it, the clearer it was, despite that little voice whispering in my ears. No more running away. If I was going to run, this time it would be into the fire.

Standing up slowly, I stepped out of my room.

_Be strong, Kali. You can do anything if you just put your mind to it._

As we stepped outside and towards the rental, I clenched the mask in my hands. Into the viper's nest in search of a cobra. What could go wrong?


	12. Demons Inside Everyone 2.02

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's take a little drive deep into the woods, they said. It'll be fun, they said. There'll be people other than villains there, they said. It would be safe, they said.
> 
> Oops All Villains ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

**Turn Your Eyes**   
_Demons Inside Everyone 2.02_

* * *

Every bump and dip in the old dirt road we were traveling down reminded me of my childhood. This wasn’t just some fishing trip, though, despite the fact that I felt as on edge now as I did then. If it wasn’t for the limited space and rough ride I knew I’d be bouncing my leg a mile a minute.

Though I didn’t know which was worse: knowing where we were going or the silence on the way there. We couldn’t really plan more or discuss things; there was no telling if there would be a power or something to listen in on things approaching, and the last thing we needed was giving away the game before it had even begun.

“We’re approaching. Masks on,” Void said from the driver’s seat. The truck slowed to a stop, and a few moments passed as we finished our outfits. Well, as they did. Turns out wearing street clothes and just throwing on a mask was one of the simplest things I could do. “Everyone ready?”

I grunted as Pushpin made an affirmative sound, and the truck started moving again. Ahead I could see the darkness of the forest giving way to lights. Nestled between trees was what looked like some kind of outpost built to be undetected beneath the canopy far above. There wasn’t so much a parking area as just a ‘park wherever you find a spot nearby’ from the looks of things, and Void pulled us off of the road and into park.

As we headed towards the stone walkway entrance, a sign caught our attention.

_Welcome to the Cabin. No powers, no fights, and remember that we’re all friends here._

“Well, that’s straightforward enough, isn’t it?” I asked with a nervous giggle. "I wonder what they do about powers that don't just turn off or aren't directly controlled?"

"Probably either you don't come or you're expected to not use it in a way that would cause offense to anyone else," Pushpin answered.

"And if you break that?"

"You're not the only cape around. It's happened before and it ends badly for the instigator even if they get away."

"Mhmm."

The front doors were imposing, seeming to loom over us as we got closer. Decorative crests stood out against the stained, black wood. Large silver handles drew the eye, but my attention was wandering as the sound of maniacal giggling reached my ears. It was vaguely familiar, though I couldn’t quite place from where.

My eyes flicked over my allies, darting from helmet to mask to door and back again. Was this how the rabbit felt before the wolves?

We paused at the doors for a fraction of a second before Void stepped forward and pulled. They opened silently, though the room beyond was anything but. Voices overlapped the sound of silverware and various dishes, and underneath it all was a simple yet calming melody that sounded distinctly like a violin. Moving inside, pulling the doors closed behind me, I felt relief wash through my body as hardly anyone looked up at our entrance. That was short lived, however, as my gaze wandered over to a young woman with _something_ on her back. She turned, slowly, and looked directly at me. Her mask, some kind of dark fabric, with eyes and overwide mouth stitched closed with an eerie green thread, jogged my memory.

Marionette, a cape who made the local news a year ago for her ability to control people like puppets. Her tattered skirt swaying, and I was surprised by how ethereal she looked in person. What the footage hadn’t shown was how utterly insane she looked. The limp mannequin on her back, the ragged and vaguely transparent clothes that showed a blurred shadow of a person underneath, the breastplate and gloves that were the exact same as the life-size doll behind her.

I barely kept myself from flinching as she stood up and walked over, that deranged mask not turning from my face, before she gave a tilted little bow. Why couldn't she just look away?

"My my my, it's been a while since a new face showed up here. And now there's three of them! How delightful." Her voice was high-pitched, but something just felt _off_ about it. I winced as she broke into the same maniacal giggling I'd heard earlier, clasping her hands in front of her and swaying slowly on the spot. "Passing through or are you planning to stay to play?"

"Staying, but out in a small town, out of the way. Figured it wouldn't hurt to stop in and see what the local spot had to offer." I envied Void for their confidence in dealing with her, though maybe they didn't know who they were talking to. Who was talking at us.

Her head cocked to the side slowly, and I had to wonder how she saw anything through the mask. She didn't have extra senses, did she?

"Well, that's surprising. I'm sure we'll have tons of fun. Care to exchange names, or do I get to pick them for you?"

"That won't be necessary. Void, Pushpin, Whisper," Alex answered quickly, pointing to each of us in turn.

"Wonderful. Get yourselves something nice, it's on me." She leaned forward slowly, and before I could stop her she had patted my cheek surprisingly gently. "Don't get your panties too bunched up there. Live a little. Or a lot, haha."

With that she twirled and bounced away, the mannequin dancing with each motion. As she sat back down at the bar, the face on the mannequin caught my attention. It was made of the same thread as the rest of her costume, but the mouth was wider and more disturbing than she was.

"That could've gone worse," Pushpin muttered under her breath.

"Not a best case scenario, but at least we didn't make an enemy. Let's take a seat and just see who's here."

I let out a small sigh of relief when they led us to a table as far as we could be from Marionette. She was not someone I wanted to be around.

A waitress stopped by a few minutes later, and while I wanted water I couldn't say I trusted this place enough to get anything. With the others declining as well, I felt a little more sure of my choice and suspicions. I let my eyes drift across the room, mildly concerned by the amount of costumes I didn't recognize. How many of these people were like Brewer, just hiding out of sight while they ruined people and destroyed lives?

There was a guy in the corner with a dark green hood and cloak covering his face and body, leather boots kicked up, who I could only assume was either watching everyone or sleeping. Both options were disturbing for very different reasons.

I couldn’t spend my time inspecting everyone, however, without being suspicious about it. Instead I kicked up my feet on the chair across from me, turning my head towards my companions who were talking quietly to each other. Over their shoulders I could see Marionette slowly turn to look at me, and I suppressed a shiver that turned into a twitch that locked my jaw. With a grunt I leaned forward to the others impatiently.

“She keeps looking at me.”

“Just ignore her. She’s probably trying to get a rise out of you.”

“It’s creepy!” I hissed. “What are we even doing? I thought this would be more lively or something, but we’re just sitting around.”

The doors opened before either of them could do more than look at each other, a tall woman decked out in leather and chains sauntering in and making a beeline for the bar as the doors swung shut behind her. The little I saw of her mask reminded me of crystalized butterfly wings. She sat, leaning forward over the bar, and within seconds a drink was in front of her. She downed it in seconds, and I found myself blinking in surprise as another was placed in front of her almost immediately. There were a few heartbeats where I wondered if she was going to just keep going until she got plastered, but after finishing the second a third never appeared. Instead she and Marionette seemed to strike up a short conversation before the latter returned to staring at me.

Seriously, what the hell was up with her?

My head jerked as the door swung open again and a figure I instantly recognized limped in, before she froze and put a hand on her hip.

“Long time no see, hot stuff,” Polaris said after a few moments of silence.

“Oh, hell,” Void muttered.

“You know them, Pol?” Marionette jumped on the words like a vulture.

“Yeah, you could say that I guess. Ol’ spooky over there fucked me up pretty good. Had to go to a stinking doctor, even.”

“You mean the airport job? That was, like, yesterday or something.”

“Yeah. Bad timing all around, I think. But maybe I was wrong about you, cutie. What are you and your little band of fools doing here?” Polaris didn’t seem like she was holding a grudge, despite how much my instincts yelled at me that this was a ploy, a trap, and we were walking into it blind. But… she just sounded curious.

“We’re—“

“—Nuh uh, flyboy. I asked _her_, not you.”

“I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“Why are you here? It’s a simple question, and I know you’re not brain dead in there.”

“Stopping in to say hello, I guess. See what all the fuss is about, personally, I guess?”

“You guess or you know?” she said pointedly.

“Look, fuck off. I’m not here to play your stupid game.”

“There she is. Good ol’ firecracker. Welcome to the Lost Cabin, as some of us call it. Middle of nowhere. Now, if you’ll excuse me I have business to take care of downstairs.”

“Downstairs?” I blurted out.

“Yeah, it’s for the big boys and girls and others. Maybe I’ll bring you along one day. But sure as hell not right now. I would _hate_ for you to see me angry.” With that she hobbled through a door next to the bar, and left an overwhelming silence behind her.

I wanted to know what was behind that door. Big boys and girls? Was it possible that he was right here, beneath me, just out of reach? Or was that just where the mercenary types picked up jobs? Or was there some kind of inner circle among the local villains?

On top of all that, people who hadn't been paying attention to us, or at least directly so, were now turning eyes our way. The guy in the corner, the woman at the bar, I could feel everyone looking at me. Marionette was cocking her head again, and I could just feel that she was going to approach again.

I couldn't take it.

"I'm stepping outside," I said a little too loudly. Pushing myself up, I walked at a brisk pace that I hoped wouldn't look like I was running and slipped out the door. The cold air was a slap in the face, but one that I welcomed with open arms. My steps were slow now that I was away from the prying eyes of all those villains, surrounded by elongated shadows and darkness a short run away, and I moved a short distance away from the Cabin before leaning against a tree and looking out into the surrounding woods.

How far into the middle of nowhere were we, really? It had been hard to visualize the distance in my head while we had been driving. A few dozen miles, maybe? It didn’t help when you transferred from highway to an unmarked road that was more of a trail that only existed from the occasional passing vehicles. It reminded me of the age old question, in a way, if a little twisted.

If I screamed in the woods would anyone hear me?

“You get more intriguing by the minute, little Whisper,” a voice said between bursts of suppressed maniacal giggling. “I promise I won’t bite. I would never.” There was a pause as I tensed, the shadows roiling subtly beneath my feet. “Unless you wanted me to, anyways.”

“What do you want?” I struggled to make my voice heard over the cloud that was threatening my vision.

“Tsk, tsk. Really now, you don’t have to be rude about it. And do I have to remind you of the rules, my little shadow?”

My fingers dug into the bark of the tree at the singsong tone she had adopted. The pain pushed the fog back a little, and a deep breath helped me to drag back the shadows. I couldn’t fuck this up. Void and Pushpin were counting on me to keep my shit together tonight.

“That’s a good girl,” Marionette crooned softly before I heard her approaching slowly. “You’re new.”

It wasn’t a question, and I didn’t offer a response.

“I’ve seen new. I remember being new. When everything was broken and shattered and I picked it all up and made it pretty again. Mine again.” Her voice was getting closer than I was comfortable with, and I spun around with my teeth bared. That stupid fucking stitched face stared back at me, taunting, as she took another small step forward. Another step forward, and I couldn’t stop myself from taking an instinctive step back.

She couldn’t get closer, I couldn’t let her. I had to keep her away if I wanted to make sure she wasn’t going to just control me like he did.

My breathing quickened with each step, the Cabin getting just a little further with each passing moment. She stopped, swaying ever so slightly in place before that damned face tilted to the side and I was distracted for a brief moment.

And that was all she needed.

In the next instant I felt arms close around me and fingers dig into my back before I stopped breathing. I let my head be moved as arms reached around me and pulled me close.

“It’ll be okay. I promise.” Her voice was surprisingly soft all of a sudden. What had been disturbed was now almost comforting. As the realization that I was being hugged sunk in, I felt wires in my brain cross and I gasped in a breath. “I don’t know what hurt you, but it’ll be okay. Because you were strong enough to be here, and you’ll be strong enough to keep being here. I don’t care what you’re doing, I don’t even care if we’ll have to be enemies for a time, I know you’ll do amazing with it.”

Was a villain giving me a pep talk? Was I being _comforted_?

“I can see it in how you move, how you sit, how you do everything. And I’m going to help you. Maybe not now, I doubt you’ll trust me anytime soon, but I’m going to help you because you’re damaged and hurt and that just won’t do.”

“You want to help?” I grunted out the words slowly, grinding them between my teeth on the way out. “Then tell me. Have you ever heard of a man named Brewer?”


	13. Demons Inside Everyone 2.03

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things at the Lost Cabin spice up, and we learn and reflect upon things.
> 
> Oh and shit gets turned balls up like always because what is happiness?

**Turn Your Eyes**   
_Demons Inside Everyone 2.03_

* * *

“And what would you be wanting with Brewer?” A new voice broke through the silence. It was sharp, like daggers dragging across my skin, and sank into me with a vicious energy. And yet, at the same time, it sounded so utterly bored with everything. Something slid deep into my arms, legs, spine, and the base of my skull in the next instant, and I jerked in Marionette’s arms.

Panic flooded through me as something wrapped around my core, the essence deep inside of me, and squeezed. My breath came out in gasps and bile rose in my throat.

Against my will, I felt my shoulders shrug.

"Well, isn’t this a pleasure. It’s been so long since you graced us with your presence, Stigmata. Who shit on your boots this time?” Marionette asked with a smile. I felt a tug deep inside me and my body leaned against the tree while my arms crossed over my chest.

I could see the new cape, however, and I couldn’t help but be confused by his choice of costume: A red and black suit and simple domino mask. His short and unkempt red hair stood out almost as much as his suit did.

“It’ll be you in about five seconds if your toy doesn’t answer my question.” The way his voice worked through the words felt increasingly wrong the more he talked, like he wasn’t used to speaking or something. And the absolute apathy in his tone was unnerving in its own right.

“My partners and I are moving in and I heard mention of someone going by Brewer, and we wanted to make sure we weren’t going to be intruding upon anyone’s territory,” I managed to answer after a moment of Marionette staring at me expectantly.

“He doesn’t have territory,” she answered with a roll of her eyes. Stigmata shook his head and started heading towards the building. As he passed us proper, however, he stopped.

“Play with fire and you’re going to get your hands burned.” As he spoke, pain spiked into my hands as if I’d put them too close to a campfire. “Be careful with what you’re toying with, Marionette, or you’ll find yourself in a predicament.” The longer he spoke the worse the pain became. Was this his power? What the hell was he doing to me? “And I’ll relish the day, as the fire works its way up and burns hotter and hotter until your skin is a blackened, cracked shell.” I whimpered as I felt flames lick their way along my hands and forearms, the pain making my vision blurry with tears. “Now take your toy further out. You know the rules.”

With that he walked away slowly, and as his steps faded I felt the hold on me release. Immediately I felt more alone than I ever had before, an ache growing throughout my entire body. With a shudder I fell forward, my hands sinking into the snow. With a hiss I looked at the angry red that reached up nearly halfway to my elbows. Before I had time to even begin to process anything else I retched, gagging as my body shook violently, and before I knew it I was face down in the snow.

“Fuck!” I turned my head slowly to see Marionette staring at the angry red splotches running unevenly up her arms. “Fucking Stig. God what the fuck were you thinking?” With a small shake of my head, I closed my eyes rather than look at her. “Fuck, okay, you are taking this a lot worse than I expected. He didn’t even use his power that much, I don’t get why you’re practically catatonic.”

The pain in my arms and hands was slowly receding into a dull ache. It made ignoring her become progressively more difficult, without something consuming my attention, but I just didn’t want to think about her. She was insane! But she had also been mostly okay since we got out here? It had to be a ploy of some kind, a way for her to get something she wanted. Or maybe just a way for her to get her rocks off at night. People didn’t do anything remotely good for nothing. I’d learned that the hard way more than enough times.

“God you fucking— Is this the only way you react to shit, because holy fuck you’re going to die in a week if it is,” she was saying as I zoned back in. Gentler than I expected she rolled me over and grabbed my arms at the elbow. As she lifted, she pulled the sleeves of my hoodie up slowly, and I opened my eyes to her inspecting my hands. “At least he hit us the same. So, what, is this because of my power? You do realize I saved your life doing that, right? You were gonna go be a fucking hare or some shit and get yourself killed with how wound up you were. Being all jumpy and shit.”

“Fuck you,” I spat out. “Took part of me.”

“Oh, fuck, that’s right. You’re all you, alright? Feeling goes away after a bit. It’s just the connection you’re missing. You can stop acting like I murdered your puppy in front of you or something, jesus.”

“Whatever. Who was that?” I asked, mostly in an attempt at distracting myself.

“Stigmata. He’s part of some shadowy group. Not a good thing to see him. Usually means he’s putting his foot down on your head somehow. I don’t know much else. Most of what I know is rumor anyways. He’s like a boogeyman and I still have scars from the first time I met him. It’s part of why I put on the display I do. Get left alone if everyone just thinks you’re mostly harmless and crazy.”

I put myself into a sitting position and shook my head. “I don’t know.” Was this all just an act? An attempt to get my guard down more?

She had had me in her power. And she’d let me go. Had she really saved my life, though? Yet again I was left with the fact that I was in over my head with nowhere near enough information to go off of.

"Look, you need to be careful. I don't know what you're doing, but this isn't something you can just shove yourself into like that. Stig can and will kill you."

"I get it. Whatever."

"I'll help, but only because this is driving me crazy. But god you need to not be dumb.”

“Will you fucking stop calling me stupid, for fucks sake?”

“Then stop acting like it.” She stood up, brushed the snow off of her dress, and started to head back towards the Cabin herself. “I’ll stop down in Pixie soon to discuss things in person. Take care of yourself until then. I’d hate to have to waste a trip because you got yourself killed in the meantime.”

I stared after her for a moment before letting myself fall back into the snow.

“What the fuck?” I asked the forest around me.

* * *

A few hours later and I found myself leaning over the edge of a balcony several stories up overlooking a city I couldn’t remember the name of. Quarter something, probably. Something dumb, anyways, like most everything in this state.

The air was brisk, but after earlier I couldn’t say that it particularly bothered me. While my hands were fine now, the occasional gust of wind brought relief from a phantom pain that I could almost forget I had. The slight tingle that made my breath sharp, the feeling of something pressing against me from every angle, it stood out in sharp contrast with every shiver that crawled its way slowly up my arms and down my spine to settle into my toes to keep me frozen in place.

Every so often a thought would intrude into my mindless vigil, about how easy and simple it would be to just lean forward a little bit more and never have to think about it again. How I could just stop and never worry about anything. All it would take was the least amount of effort I had ever put into anything.

With a sweep of my arm I sent a foot long section worth of snow from the railing to fall towards the ground, watching as a gust of wind scattered it into a white mist and carried it away and out of sight around the corner of the building. As I followed the trail I noticed Alex and Laura out of the corner of my eye. They had papers splayed out on one of the beds and were ordering things and making notes. I could’ve joined them, but I couldn’t say that I found the idea all that appealing. I didn’t have anything to add, to contribute. They had all of the information I had on Brewer and the fact that he was apparently in some shadowy group behind the scenes in the state.

How impossible would it be to get to him, if he was that many layers deep? Locked away from my reach just due to the amount of threats between us, people being not unlike steel doors blocking the way through to the crown jewel?

Would I be willing to cut my way through, pile up more bodies at my feet until I was drowning in blood and meat, nothing more than a feral monster hunting in the dark? Where was the line between doing what I needed to do and becoming something that I couldn’t live with after?

And for that matter, did I care about after?

I wasn’t sure that I did. Or that I could. Did it really matter if it meant getting to a man who had left more corpses than I could imagine?

Pushing off more snow, I watched a few late night cars wind their way through the streets lazily. How did all these people go about their lives? Hell, how had I gone about my life thinking that my problems then were so big? Did it speak to the commonplace of the evil surrounding us, or perhaps about the lack of willingness to see or do anything about it. Turning a blind eye to the hate and the pain of others as long as it didn’t directly affect you. Was that what it meant to be normal?

Spitting over the edge of the balcony in disgust, I turned to make my way back inside. It didn’t matter what was normal, not anymore. All that mattered was that I take care of that sick bastard, permanently.

Even if that meant getting help from monsters walking around in human skin.

“I’ve made my choice,” I announced as I shut the door behind me. “Again. Or whatever. I don’t know, it’s been complicated lately. But I’m committed to removing Brewer for good. Even if that means doing things I don’t really like doing. Like talking to villains.”

“Well, we’ve been reworking the plan a bit,” Alex said with a yawn. “Didn’t expect you to make a contact, let alone someone like Marionette. Though it’s nice to have a possible confirmation that Brewer isn’t all alone. Well”—he paused to give a bitter laugh—“it’s a pain in the ass. But having intel is always better than not.”

With a noncommittal grunt I flopped down onto the other bed and let the warmth wash over me. “Not sure what exactly Stigmata can do, though. She called him a boogeyman, but in what sense did she mean it? Is it because of how he acts, how he handles things, the way his power works? She didn’t give us a lot to go off of.”

“It’s like I said. Something is better than nothing. We can build off of something. With nothing we’re building a house of cards out of wet newspaper clippings. It just doesn’t make anything but a mess.”

“I guess so. Did you ever get a copy of that press release by the way? We ended up missing it with the airport disaster. Kinda curious what the PRT had to say.”

“Oh, they canceled that one with the airport issue. New one came out today instead, and it was utterly useless. Can’t get much of anything out of it, besides calling your attack and the airport a string of gang related violence that may be connected. Bunch of bullshit to keep people quiet and not freaking out.”

“Mhmm. And what about the others that were at the Cabin?”

“Villains. Looks like the heroes who are around and not with the PRT have enough bad blood to not show up. Not entirely surprising, but it is a bit of a concern for the area as a whole. There’s some loose groups it sounds like, but they’re all afraid of whoever Stigmata is with. The way they tensed up when he came in was telling.”

“Think he has a habit of making examples out of people, or is his reputation just that big?” I asked with a yawn of my own.

“Probably both, from what you said.”

“More mysteries to solve, I guess.”

“Yeah, but we’ll get there. Tomorrow we can start by taking a look around Pixie and routing some criminals out of town. Make a proper debut if the opportunity presents itself.”

“You think we’re ready for that?”

“Don’t have a choice. We need to move up the time table if there’s a chance that either of the other two are on their way.”

“Oh, right. Do you think they will?”

“Sooner or later. It’s a guarantee.”

“Mhmm. Well, we can figure all of that out tomorrow. I don’t know about you two, but I’m about to fall asleep where I’m sitting and I’d prefer not to sleep in until like noon,” Laura spoke up before I could figure out how to reply. “Sleeping on all of this would probably help us all anyways.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ll get the light,” Alex agreed around another yawn..

A shrug was my only response as I slid myself under the covers and turned towards the wall. As I slowly drifted off I heard the quiet sounds of whispered words scratching against the back of my ears.

* * *

_Sprinting without sight, running headlong into nothingness that promised release from the flames rising behind me. The thump of each footstep slapping against the ground as I struggled to pull my legs further. Each breath breaking my ribs apart and reforming them in the same instance. The pain, agonizingly sharp and visceral, as my muscles strained and tore from bone just to reattach in the next movement._

_ **You are my canvas, each drop a reminder of all the memories we’ve made upon your skin.** _

_My life had been suffering, and this was beyond that._

_ **Mine mine mine mine mine mine** _

_My back exploded in pain as something sharp and cold ripped into it. Tearing and slicing its way deeper. I faltered, falling forward as my legs finally gave out beneath me. A short respite before an oppressive weight pushed down against me, smothering me in the inky mud beneath me. I struggled for purchase but only found sludge, pooling and seeping into my mouth. Drowning as I was shoved deeper into the more, claws reaching into my back to grab my spine. They reached deeper, slicing my lungs and heart along the way, reaching for something else. Filth poured from the holes, spilling over into the cavity inside me._

_ **THUMP THUMP** _

_ **THUMP THUMP** _

_ **THUMP THUMP** _

_And then I felt the cold, hard grasp around the very thing that made me me, and then a tug. Another and another and another until it was gone, ripped away, and I was an empty husk._

_ **This is my last time, I promise. It won’t be long now. Soon you’ll be by my side. Forever.** _

_No longer myself. Broken, left to rot in the wastes, surrounded by nothing._

_ **Without me you are nothing.** _

_Arms reached out of the muck and wrapped around me, gently, before slowly pulling me in deeper. Within moments the sickening plop of slick filth falling into me filled the air. Instinctively I knew that I would be filled completely, forgotten like however many others, and left to rot._

_ **No one but me will remember you. I am all you have left.** _

_Red seeped into the void around me, drops that turned into streams, warmth spreading across my skin. Far beneath me the red turned to orange and sizzled. Desire flared within the holes inside of me._

_ **We are one.** _

_Opening my mouth wide, fighting against the sludge threatening to force its way down my throat, I twisted my head against the hands and arms scrabbling against me._

_ **Shhhhhhh** _

_I screamed._


	14. Demons Inside Everyong 2.04

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nightmares, road trips, and fire. Lots and lots of fire.

**Turn Your Eyes**   
_Demons Inside Everyone 2.04_

* * *

I screamed.

With a feral fury I pulled— no, wrenched myself backwards with enough force that I broke through the thin veneer between the muck and the writhing figures. I flailed, surrounded by hands and bodies and heat and in the next instant I was falling. A loud, shrill sound echoed in my ears, followed by a cacophony of activity that coincided with my impact against something solid.

Something tugged against me, and I lashed out as best as I could. Which was ineffective, given my bindings, and I felt myself being pulled feet first towards an unknown destination.

A voice yelled, nearly indistinguishable against the shrill sound scratching against the inside of my skull and along the walls of my throat. In the next instant I felt the dragging sensation stop and pain wracked my body, waves rolling across my skin and into the bones beneath. I could feel it everywhere, a pain that made me think of my body breaking and shifting, but unlike before it stopped after a few moments. Against my will, I felt my body go limp, except for the occasional twitches spasming through my muscles. Pressure returned on my side and I rolled. Soft light filtered into view after a few rotations, and the invasive feeling across my body began to lessen before it vanished completely, and cool air trailed circles across my skin.

A spasm shook my leg as I pushed myself into a sitting position and looked around through blurry eyes. The bed was a disaster zone of pillows and sheets, and a trail of blankets went from it to me.

“Yeah, everything’s fine. Night terrors. Yeah, sorry for bothering you. No, no, you’re fine. Thank you.” Alex's voice drew my eyes to them standing at the cracked door right before they shut it and turned back to me.

“A—” I coughed, hands going to my throat, scrunching up my face in pain. A glass of water entered my view, and I followed the hand up to see Laura’s concerned face. Taking the glass silently, I nodded my thanks. After a moment struggling to take a sip, I mimed for something to write with. My throat felt raw, angry, and each breath felt like adding salt to a wound.

Pen and paper found their way into my hands as I scooted myself up against a wall.

_What happened?_

“Was hoping you could tell us. You just started screaming and then you flailed and got wrapped up in the blankets. Started to panic more, I guess? Alex had to use one of his powers on you to snap you out of it enough so we could get you untangled.” She frowned, biting her lip, before looking towards Alex. “And sorry for that. Couldn’t think of anything else, and I was worried that you might start using your power.”

_Just bad dreams, I guess. I can’t explain it._

“Mhmm. Well, thankfully there’s next to no one on this floor and the one guy who is was pretty understanding,” Alex spoke up from where he was leaning against the door. “Was it because of what happened last night?”

The only explanation that I could offer was a shrug, which made the two share a look.

“Well, we should probably get ready to leave then. It’s a bit earlier than we were planning, but… I doubt you want to go back to sleep now,” Laura said after a few moments of silence.

_Yeah. Back to Pixie or…?_

“Yeah. We can start looking for clues there. And you said Marionette was going to end up down there looking for you sooner or later anyways, so it would be better to keep you in the area. Last thing we need is her just expanding her territory down there because that’s a fight I don’t think any of us want.” I nodded at that. Alex was right that we should be ready for her, since I still wasn’t sure if I should give her a chance or not. Even if she had helped me out.

The packing and checkout passed by in a haze with Laura hovering over me. Normally I'd say it was annoying, but today I couldn't have been more grateful to know that I wasn't alone. I collapsed into the truck as soon as it pulled up, and I found myself staring at the buildings and people passing by. Concrete and flesh turned into green and white as we moved out of the city and onto the highway, swaths of snow-covered forest stretching out seemingly endlessly and turning into a blur of white and brown with splotches of green. The radio was playing quietly in the background, and the occasional bump in the road was soothing in an odd way that was vaguely nostalgic. Despite my best efforts against it, I found my eyes slowly drifting shut.

_**”Did you really think that I wouldn’t find you again, 24? That I would stop searching for you just because it was hard? You’re mine, and you know it. Mine forever.”** A gloved hand slid down my cheek slowly, and I found that I couldn’t recoil from it. **”Yes, that’s right. Just a little encouragement is all it takes, isn’t it? It’s so much easier to not fight me. To just give in. To stop denying what you really want.”**_

_Something pricked my arm and I felt heat pouring into my arm and across my body. Familiar. It made my body ache and shiver as it shot through me. A gasp escaped my lips as I felt my blood thunder through my veins, and I fell forward into his waiting arms, into—_

I jerked, bouncing my head off of the headrest in front of me, and gasped for air as my heart violently pounded against my ribs. Searching around me, looking for him, I found Laura’s eyes looking at me.

“Drifted off,” I croaked. Shifting, I tried to get more comfortable as the feeling of the seat belt digging into me began to overtake the panic coursing through my veins. “Had a falling awake kind of thing."

“Mhmm. Well, you were out for a while. We’re coming up on Pixie now. Figured it was best to let you sleep.”

“Thanks,” I muttered, leaning my head back and rolling it. I hated how stiff sleeping in a vehicle made you, the way it felt like you had just met Medusa.

Though I’d live the rest of my life feeling like that if it made the nightmares go away.

I wasn’t even sure if they were nightmares anymore. Hallucinations might have been a more apt description, ghosts of memories flitting before my mind and taunting me with the lost time.

“Hey, is that smoke?” Laura’s question made me freeze for a moment before I looked out the front window.

“Yeah, and a lot of it,” Alex said after a brief pause.

“That’s an understatement.” I blurted out the words, wincing as I stared at the dark black rolling across the sky. The last time I’d seen so much smoke had been when the school burned down after a prank gone wrong. “Should we look into it?”

“Yeah. Might be something we can do. We’ve got our costumes still if it comes down to it.”

“Might just be a building fire.” Laura sounded nervous.

“Maybe.”

The truck’s engine roared as we accelerated, and I felt my stomach shift a little.

“Um, Alex, I don’t think there’s that much of an urgency…” I muttered half-heartedly as he weaved through traffic. Horns blared and I could practically hear the irritated curses that were undoubtedly being thrown our way.

In what felt like several long minutes we shot down the off-ramp. Taking the turn at the bottom fast enough that I could feel the tires protest beneath us, we sped down the main road to Pixie. Thankfully, either everyone was already out, staying home, or otherwise kept off the road based on the absolutely empty streets as Alex pushed us as fast as they safely could.

The smoke got worse as we approached, rolling black across the road, and a flicker of blue fire shot out ahead of us before it dissipated.

“Masks on.”

I shook my head, already pulling my mask out from my hoodie, as the truck came to a stop and Alex took out the key.

“No idea who this is.” Their voice was muffled as they put on the helmet. Opening the door, I could faintly hear screams over the sound of things burning and breaking. The buildings on our side of the street seemed fine, from what I could see, but across from us… 

All around the elementary school was smoke and fire, people hiding underneath things, and first responders all over. A few blocks away I could see an ambulance with the EMTs treating people around it, and after a moment it kicked in how many of the people were just children.

“Try and find the cape, I’m going to go help the kids.” Pincushion’s voice was hard before she set off, quickly leaving us behind. I watched her for a moment before Void started running towards the school itself.

“I’ll try to help evac. Be careful, Whisper, we don’t know anything about whoever did this and they might still be here,” they called over their shoulder as an afterthought. In just seconds I was standing by myself, surrounded by heat and cries and screams and the occasional sound of something erupting.

I took off after Void a few moments later, heading towards those very eruption sounds. Either I’d find the source of the problem or the cape responsible, and both seemed like win-wins to me. The air felt heavier the closer I got, my feet thudding off of pavement and then against grass and concrete, and my eyes stung a little from the smoke. I found myself nearly slipping constantly on the thin layer of ash that had accumulated outside the school, each step a threat and each breath inviting the heated air to claw at my lungs.

A sudden whoosh of air alerted me to the arrival of a cape as they came to a sliding halt ahead of me, their costume a mixture of blue and white and sharp black lines separating the colors. An emblem on her chest stood out to me, an emerald green, but I couldn’t place what it was from. In her hand was a container filled with a strange blue goop, which she promptly pointed at me.

“Stand down and put your hands above your head,” she ordered as I skidded to a stop.

“We have to help these people, what the fuck are you doing?” I snapped, feeling the shadows wavering beneath me. I glowered at the opaque visor of her helmet, the Protectorate logo emblazoned across the top.

“Soon as I detain you. Can’t have random ass capes running around when one started this,” she responded cooly, tensing.

Before either of us could do anything more, another figure thudded into the ground next to the hero, holding a hand out in front of her. His costume was less flashy, armored pieces colored various shades of red and a half-mask that left his unkempt black hair sticking out behind him, and I recognized him instantly. Boost, the leader of the only Protectorate headquarters in the entire state, which had just been founded a few months previously. True to form, he didn’t stay still and instead spoke quietly into the unknown hero’s ear, glancing at me appraisingly. A moment later and she stalked off before releasing something that shot her away from us and blew the smoke from the area temporarily in the same movement.

“We have bigger issues right now. If you’re here to help, great. If you’re not, then Pulsar will just shut you down and we’ll bring you in along with whatever monster attacked a school,” he said after a moment of us looking at each other. If I hadn’t known better I’d think he was nervous, but he’d sounded like that every time I remembered hearing him speak on video. Before I could respond he was dashing off, each step carrying him further than humanly possible, as another eruption happened.

From my position I could actually see this one molten fire shooting several stories high, from what looked like the middle of the school if my memory served me. Seconds later and I noticed the ash floating in the air was turning blue and falling faster, and where it splashed onto the grass and my clothes it burned, melting, before it seemed to evaporate away. Instinctively I brought shadows up and over me, hoping to spare myself from the strange burning rain that had developed.

What on earth was causing this? It seemed weird even as far as powers were concerned. But powers were the only examples I could think of as I ran towards the front doors. Which were hanging off of their hinges, I noticed with a wince. What kind of monster was I walking towards?

The school looked mostly the same as it had all those years ago when I had attended, minus all the wreckage, burn marks, and active fires in almost every room I looked in as I ran down the main hall. I’d hated this place as a kid, but I’d never actually wanted something like this to happen.

Two figures appeared ahead of me, coming from around a corner, and I brought myself to a stop. They were made of some kind of blue fire, almost like burning ghost-knights, and they walked slowly onward. As they got close to me, one of them raised a sword of fire and swung it, and a wave of fire shot down the hallway at me. With a surprised yelp, I dived through an open door a few feet back the way I came. Seconds later the fire roared past, singing the doorframe, as I found myself wondering where to go from here. I was trapped, unless I went out a window, and then I’d be back to trying to find my way inside to the cape. Wherever they were.

The figures were approaching. I could feel the shadows between us moving, dancing from the light sources, and I looked around anxiously. There had to be an answer that wasn’t just quitting. I didn’t know if the figures were something from a cape or capes who lit themselves on fire, but fire was not something that I felt particularly brave about trying to fight.

Would my shadows even hold up against something made of fire? Were my shadows affected by light after I manipulated them?

I should’ve tested my powers more.

The light from the things was getting brighter, and there were only so many options that I had available to me at the moment. Run or fight? I didn’t like either choice.

As a stream of fire shot past the door a third option came to mind. These things were slow, whatever they were. If I could trick them or something, buy myself some time, maybe I could slip past them and keep heading towards whoever was causing all of this?

I slipped behind the open door, pulling the darkness up, crouching down to make myself as small as I could with shadows wrapped around and over me. It was an odd feeling, having sound muffled and my sight blocked completely, and yet I was still aware of my surroundings through my power. It was almost comforting, like being surrounded by something soft.

I felt the beings enter the room, shadows recoiling and flitting from the light, before everything settled for a brief moment. It wasn’t a stretch of the imagination that they were looking around the room, and I held my breath in hopes that I wouldn’t give away my location behind the door. They stayed there for what felt like an eternity before I felt the shadows move and distort again, extending down the hallway the way I had come. Several seconds passed before I took a greedy breath and slowly lowered my cocoon, tentatively looking around before lowering my shell completely. It seemed to have worked, thankfully, and the room looked no worse other than the smouldering door frame.

Peeking around the edge of the frame, careful to avoid the parts that were smoking or charred, I saw no signs of the duo, and I took that as my sign to hurry up and move on before they came back and blasted me from behind.

The rest of the hallway was much the same as the rest of it I had already covered, and after the first four rooms I stopped slowing down to look as I passed. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw that the cafeteria was a disaster, and I chose to ignore it in favor of heading towards the gymnasium based on the sounds of explosions, thuds, and crashing coming from that direction.

The hallway between the cafeteria and the gym was a mess. Holes in walls, ashes across the floor, everything burned or burning… Had I found the epicenter of this disaster?

A chilling thought made me stumble, nearly falling as my feet tripped over themselves.

Had someone gone into the school to attack when the kids had been all together?

Right before I got to the gym doors a wave of smoke blasted into the hallway, and not for the first time was I glad to have this mask to help filter out my breaths. Still though, I couldn’t imagine that this was good for my lungs.

Coughing, my eyes watering from the heat and smoke, I saw a blue glow that grew brighter as the smoke began to clear, and I found myself face to face with something that my brain stuttered to comprehend properly.

The being was wispy, a childish rendition of a ghost, immaterial and seemingly not entirely all _here_ in a way that I couldn’t grasp. Its head was overly large with smoke trailing off of it like hair, and the entire thing danced and writhed as if its body was made of flames. I turned my eyes slightly, a slight headache forming from how hard it was to just keep it in focus.

As I did, the head turned towards me and looked at me for half a second before it let out an eerie laugh.

_“Have you come to play, too?”_


	15. Demons Inside Everyone 2.05

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ghosts, fire, and questions.

**Turn Your Eyes**   
_Demons Inside Everyone 2.05_

* * *

I backpedaled quickly, hitting a soot covered wall before I could put any distance between myself and the apparition, and my mind balked at what I was looking at. Behind the _thing_, I could see the two heroes on the ground, and I found it easier to focus on them than the… Was it a cape? Was it another thing like the fire figures?

What the hell was I even looking at?

_“Oh. You’re like them. Mean.”_

The voice was so distorted that I was having trouble figuring out what it was saying. Was it an effect of a power or emotion? Both? It echoed as if multiple people were speaking at once, the tone and inflection rising and falling at random. As I watched, a small blue orb rose out from the thing’s hand, like a ball of fire floating around its head for a moment as it grew wings, before the wisp zipped off towards the heroes. Three more quickly followed, and I watched the heroes struggle to their feet and dart in opposite directions. Almost immediately there were a series of pops as the wisps exploded in waves of heat and fire.

_“Run.”_ The thing spoke again, a single word, as the floor directly in front of me glowed a bright blue. Without thinking I shoved myself sideways, scrabbling across the floor as a geyser of fire shot up, spilling more wisps out of it as it obliterated everything around it.

With a sinking feeling, I realized that I was absolutely outmatched in power. This thing probably wasn’t trying. There was no other explanation for the raw firepower that it was showing as it seemingly effortlessly took on the two Protectorate capes by itself.

I couldn’t get to the gym from where I stood now. The occasional blast of fire or smoke — or whatever other power effects were going on — could be seen from my limited view through the hole in the wall that used to be a doorway, but there was no way for me to approach without going through the burning remains of the floor.

Eyeing the floor, I made a snap decision. Getting a running head start, I sent a series of tendrils out and over the gap, using the treacherous footing to get far enough across that I could jump the rest of the way.

I landed hard, having more momentum than I knew what to do with, and stumbled before I fell into the gymnasium proper. Looking up, I saw the cape raising more figures like I had seen in the hallway, with a variety of burning weapons. Wisps were exploding across the room, trying to drive the heroes into a corner or out of cover.

I wasn't sure how I could help without making things worse.

Before I could make a decision, one of the constructs spread its arms wide and magma spewed forth from it towards the corner that Boost was backed into. With a wince I turned my head, pulling myself to my feet instead of watching the outcome. Staying idle, passive, letting things just happen around me… I couldn’t do it. I stalked towards the wispy cape, who seemed bigger now than just a few moments ago, and let the shadows in my hoodie wrap their way around my arms and out from my hands. Growing longer by the second, by the time I’d crossed half the distance to the cape I had two whips trailing behind me.

Not that I really knew how whips worked. It couldn’t be that complicated though, given how easy the movies and shows made it seem.

The closer I got, however, the hotter it felt. Like the cape was just spewing out heat in a radius around them.

Or maybe it was just all the fire.

Swinging one of my whips with grim determination, fairly confident that I was close enough, I almost faltered as the cape turned to look at me. Some extra sense? Before I could wonder further a wall of fire erupted from the ground between us, quickly flowing and growing towards me. Surrounding me. It began to solidify within seconds, turning into some kind of almost gooey liquid that put off enough heat that I could feel the sweat dripping down from my exposed forehead. It was suffocating, the heat making my surroundings hazy and distorted, as the cape shook their head at me.

_”Gooooo away.”_ Their voice echoed through the gym as pillars of fire burst through the ground around them. Everything was getting worse the longer this went on, and with these walls around me I wasn’t entirely sure if I was going to be able to escape before they brought the entire building down around us.

Fuck what had I gotten myself into? I couldn’t get close to these walls — the heat coming off of them was way too much to bear — and I didn’t want to risk trying to go over them the same way I’d entered the gym. Going straight was one thing, but climbing up I was less sure about.

I was utterly fucked without some help.

A chunk of the wall to my side crumbled and flew away from me as the unknown hero flew by, flipping me off in the process.

_Really? Fucking bitch._ I thought with a shake of my head, bolting out of the hole as fast as I could. The hero could be dealt with another day, whatever weird grudge she’d formed against me was not important if she wasn’t actively trying to kill me. Right now we needed to deal with… 

Looking around the room I couldn’t see where the cape was, though the amount of constructs and wisps seemed to have doubled in the amount of time I’d spent behind the walls, and the two heroes were fighting a losing battle as the things erupted and fired off waves and streams of molten fire. The wisps were like little capes themselves, now that I thought about it.

I felt confident that the heroes could at least escape if they needed to. A melted hole in the wall caught my attention, almost hidden behind the bleachers, and I dashed after the cape. Trying to make an escape themselves? It didn’t make sense to me, they were easily taking on all three of us without even trying it seemed.

Making a point, maybe?

With a grunt I ducked through the hole, trying to make sure that I didn’t touch the still melted sides, and followed the trail of destruction and ash.

At the end of the trail was a lot more ash and what looked to be the site of an explosion. The walls were crumbled and melted, as was the ceiling where I could see the sky above. Odd way to make an escape instead of just melting their way out.

I couldn’t make heads or tails of it, but I heard a sniffle from the room on my left, which had a hole instead of a door. The inside was fairly dark, only a little bit of light filtering in through the closed blinds, but was overall unscathed except for the lone kid cowering in the back corner. A little girl, maybe eight years old, rocking slightly in place as she stared blankly at the whiteboard across from her. She was wearing headphones and a hoodie, and what looked like capris that showed off the pink and blue socks that poked out from her shoes. She seemed okay, if a little shellshocked.

Fuck.

Giving up my pursuit of the cape — they’d clearly gotten away and I just didn’t have the means to try and track and follow them myself — I stepped into the room slowly, holding up my hands and speaking softly.

“Hey, kid, you okay?” She turned her head towards me slowly, her gaze sharpening for a few moments before she jerked her head in a way that didn’t really convey an answer to my question. “Well, that’s alright, I guess. I’m gonna get you out of here. That cool with you?”

She shrugged this time, at least giving me an answer that I could do something with, and I stepped forward slowly. Holding out my arms, I waited as she pulled her hood up before taking my hands. Together we walked slowly towards the door before she stopped, looking back into the dark room with a strained look on her face.

Unsure if I should question her, I instead bent over and jerked my head. I could carry her out piggy back, she couldn’t weigh that much going by how small she was.

She seemed to perk up at the option, thankfully, clambering onto my back and wrapping her arms around my neck as I looped her legs between my arms and stood up slowly. Was it my imagination or could I feel how weak her grasp was on me? Nervous, I readjusted slightly so that I held more of her weight. Last thing I needed was for her to fall off suddenly.

Though that would be my kind of luck.

“It’s gonna be alright, kid,” I said in part to calm my own nerves and in part to try and open a dialogue with her. Wasn’t that what you were supposed to do? Get people talking? “You got a name? I feel bad calling you kid.”

There was nothing but quiet for at least a minute as I wondered if she was going to reply at all, before a quiet voice whispered into my ear. “Maria.”

“Well nice to meet you, Maria. I’m Whisper. I’ll make sure to keep you safe.”

Silence was the only response I got. Not entirely surprising, but I suppressed a sigh and let my attempts at conversation die. It was only a few more moments until we were passing through an emergency exit anyways, and heading across the lawn towards where the flashing lights were.

“Not there,” the little voice spoke up in my ear. “Please.”

Startled, I came to a stop and shifted my head slightly. “No?”

“Please.”

“Well… You really should be looked over in case you’re hurt.”

“I’m not.”

“Well, I dunno. Where else are you going to go?”

“Home.”

“They’re gonna want to make sure you’re okay, account for you being safe and not left in there. I don’t know.”

“Then leave me by the teacher over there, to the left. Not the lights.”

“If you’re sure,” I said hesitantly, changing course as a sigh of relief brushed across my hood. Bending down by the small crowd of children and the single teacher looking over them, Maria scrambled off of my back and into the group. I nodded, holding up a hand as the teacher started to speak, and I headed towards the truck. Pushpin was watching from there, which struck me as odd. Hadn’t she gone to help the first responders or something?

Getting closer I could practically see the tension in how she stood, her arms crossed tight over her chest.

“Uhhhh,” I started before she shook her head curtly.

“Void is coming back. We’re leaving since the cape is gone. Nothing we can do here, apparently.”

Ouch. I could practically feel the venom in her tone, and wondered who’d pissed in her cereal. She hadn’t been a part of the fighting any, had she? Worst case scenario she’d watched a kid die or something, but it sounded more likely that she’d not been allowed to help. Like how that hero had tried to fucking arrest me or something just for being here.

Bitch.

Turning my attention to Void as they walked over, I noticed that their outfit was singed in a few places. Had they found a construct or intercepted the cape during their escape? With a shake of their head they got in the truck silently, and anxiety spiked through me at the silence. Getting in I saw that the license plate was flipped over on the dashboard, and shortly after the door shut we were backing up and the school was soon left behind as we headed back towards the highway.

“Ditching the truck,” Void said gruffly as we accelerated. “Mine should be out of the shop by now anyways.”

“So, uh…” I cleared my throat before continuing. “That bad?”

“Just don’t want them tracing it. The heroes were surprisingly less than willing to cooperate.”

“I kept getting looks trying to help,” Pushpin said quietly. “I feel like the Protectorate capes said something to keep other capes from being able to help, instead of being willing to let anyone else step in who isn’t on their payroll. Or something. I don’t know. I’ve always been able to help somehow.”

“Yeah, well, two of them were getting their asses kicked by the cape that did all that,” I said with a smirk they couldn’t see. “They were crazy strong, actually. I’d hate to see them go all out.”

“You saw them?” Void asked, their desire for info overruling their irritation. “Did you recognize them? It was just one?”

“Yeah, just the one. Creepy as fuck, powerful as fuck. No idea who they are though. Never seen them before, so they must be new to the area or kept out of the news until now.”

“Mhmm. And they were taking on two of the Protectorate at once, you said?”

“And me. Three on one and honestly I couldn’t even get close to _do_ anything. It was insane how much firepower they had. Fucking never heard of a cape like that. Unless you want to count the Beast, if you believe in it.”

“I do. But that’s worrying. Hopefully today was a fluke or they were just passing through then. It doesn’t sound like we could contend with something like that.”

* * *

Hours later I found myself staring at the ceiling, wide awake, with my thoughts swirling around the drain that was the day. Couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t stop thinking, couldn’t stop thinking because I couldn’t sleep.

Didn’t help that every time I closed my eyes I saw the glint of needles, felt the pricks against my skin. Maybe it was a leftover from the multiple nightmares, but a part of me was terrified that going out like I had been was going to give him a way to find me.

To take me.

Throwing myself out of bed, I propped the window up a sliver to let the cold air sweep into the room. Fresh air would help get my mind straight again.

When we’d got back, we’d done some research on the heroes. Boost and Skedaddle were the ones I’d seen, but apparently Laura had run into a third going by Pulsar.

Skedaddle had a history, it turned out, and her behavior wasn’t far from par for what should be expected, going by the forums and news reports. But someone who’d dealt with Nilbog personally? She’d been through a lot and I didn’t want to be on her bad side. Jumping the gun seemed pretty standard for her, and I almost felt bad for Boost for having to lead someone like that. Tinkers were hard to deal with to begin with. I almost geeked out for a bit over the videos of her in action, the way her tech worked was honestly intriguing to me, but the fact that she was a megabitch just soured it all.

Boost, meanwhile, seemed to be a bit of a skittish person in general. Going from his talks and the few recorded fights we could find, I was wondering how he’d ended up a leader of anything. He didn’t seem interesting and I’d zoned out for most of what Alex had pulled up.

Pulsar, though, we hadn’t found anything on. Whatever it was that she did, or where she’d come from, she was either under wraps, new, or rebranded. And I wasn’t sure which was more worrying.

The odd cape I’d encountered… There was just nothing to hint at who they might be. And that was more worrying than the rest of the capes from today. Someone that strong without anything to find on them?

It felt like a bad sign for what was to come.

Plopping down back onto the bed, the window safely shut again, I went back to staring at the ceiling. There weren't enough answers for the questions that I had. Not enough info for the plans I wanted to build. It honestly wasn’t too far off from what it had felt like after I graduated with my Masters.

Pulling my pillow in close and holding it as I shifted into a more comfortable position beneath the blankets, I felt myself drifting, at long last, towards sleep.

Closing my eyes, I let my thoughts drift back to the feeling of arms around me and the low murmurs trying to comfort me, and how nice it had been to feel like someone cared again.


	16. Demons Inside Everyone 2.06

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After some down time with nothing happening, Kali finds excitement in a way she hadn't been expecting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I'm so sorry for how long this has gone without an update, but I've been dealing with a **lot** and burnout on top of that. And I just moved 1100 miles! Life's been hell without everything else going on. But we're kinda back! I can't guarantee how fast I'll update from here on out, I am looking to start my book finally, but I am writing again....slowly. XD

**Turn Your Eyes**   
_Demons Inside Everyone 2.06_

* * *

It was quickly becoming apparent that I didn't know what living was really like. With so many of my thoughts being on what I'd gone through, and in turn what I wanted, somewhere along the line I'd lost the rest of me.

And I wasn't entirely sure if I was supposed to be bothered by that or not.

These conflicting thoughts chased after me while I spent day after day in a haze, struggling to adapt back into normality when all I wanted was to hunt. I felt out of place when we went shopping, when Laura tried to bond with me, when we were planning… there wasn't a time where I felt comfortable with what was going on. And beneath it all was the thin desire, the craving, the absolute need that thrummed like red lightning through my muscles. A fire in my veins.

Swallowing the growing urge to scream—and shoving it beneath the neutral mask that I'd developed for meandering in public—I let out a subdued sigh for the empty house to hear. It had been weeks since I’d felt like I could do anything; it was as if my life was regressing back to what it had been before...before everything changed.

I hated it.

Alex was being a lot less active than I had thought they were going to be, spending more time collecting information through networks and connections instead of going out in costume. Laura, meanwhile, was the one who would go out and talk to people, both in costume and out, and find information on the streets of nearby towns and cities, rest stops, gas stations… She’d built up an almost impressive collection of gossip over the last few weeks since we’d been at the so-called neutral grounds.

How she managed to do all that while still helping me figure out what shopping as a girl was like I wasn’t sure that I’d ever understand. But I wasn’t entirely sure what the importance of the gossip was.

That and it reminded me a lot of the feeling of being trapped in a small town. I couldn’t fathom what it would feel like to be in a place smaller than Pixie. This town was stifling enough by itself. Or that something could be considered vital when it used the same tactics that the small minded people I’d lived around for so much of my life had been using. Was that really helpful?

Did it really mean anything in the grand scheme of things?

I couldn’t imagine how it could.  
Shaking my head, I plopped down onto the couch and flipped the tv on to the news channel. A part of me kept hoping that there would be something that actually sparked a connection in me, gave me a lead, let me figure something out that would give us _progress_. Even unexplained disappearances would work! I just need something, anything, instead of spinning with my tires stuck in the mud.

_”That’s right, Rob. Local supervillain Marionette has been sighted moving south down the state over the last few days. Authorities are advising all citizens to be aware, and if you see her to run and call it in. We repeat: Do not engage.”_

_“Any ideas where she’s heading to, Stephan? It’s been quite some time since she’s moved out from Sudston.”_

_“At this time your guess is as good as ours, Rob. There’s not much in the direction she’s heading, a few small towns and the Protectorate base near Pixie Hollow. And I can’t imagine she’s lost it to the point that she thinks she can take on _that_ of all places.”_

_“Unfortunate news indeed. You heard it here first, folks. We’ll keep you updated on this breaking news as new details develop. Now to Jamie with the forecast.”_

Tuning out the weather, I glanced out the window briefly. I half expected to see her, though she had no reason to know where I was living. But my mind couldn't stop wondering:

Was she coming here?

She’d said she’d be making a visit, but I guess part of me just hadn’t wanted to believe she was at all serious about it. What the hell did she expect to happen? That I’d just magically show up just because she was in town?

...Not that that wasn’t what I was going to do. But so much for staying under the radar like she’d stressed.

Slipping on my mask took no time at all, and I was already dressed and wearing my hoodie, but I found myself hesitating at the door.

What if this was a trap? I was always rushing into things, not taking the time to actually consider what might happen. Just justifications, reasonings, excuses that all pretended to be thinking things through.

Shoving aside the doubt, I pulled out my phone and hit the speed dial. It was time I did something right for once.

"Hey, I need your help."

* * *

It said something about my life that I found myself more often in the growing shadows of evening and night than the light of day. What it said exactly was anyone's guess, but it was an amusing thought to help pass the time. If I lowered my voice and hunched more, could I pass as Batman without his costume? I was lurking above a dark alleyway, after all.

"So, how did you manage to arrange this, really?" I asked into the air softly, shaking the idle thoughts away.

"You just need to know where to look," Void replied just as softly from behind me. "And, to be fair, I got pretty lucky in catching her."

"How much longer?"

"Few minutes, maybe, if she's on time."

"Mhmm. You think there'll be trouble? That it's a trap?"

"Never know. But that's why we prepared in case there is one. Pushpin is nearby, you and I can fall back to her easily enough if things go south."

"...And if they don't?"

"Then we'll see what happens. You said she wants to help. So let her help."

Well that was frustrating. I let us lapse back into silence, bouncing my weight from leg to leg as I watched from my perch. She was coming, she had to be. This couldn't have been for nothing.

I could feel her before I could see her, the shadow splashing around her from the street lights before they melted into the darkness of the alley. I knew it was her, it couldn't be anyone else.

As she came into view a shiver crawled up my spine. She was already looking at me, that green thread standing out even in the darkness, and I had to stop myself from holding my breath.

She was here.

It took mere seconds for her to skitter up the ladder to the roof, sharp clicks marking her progress. Stepping over the ladder, she rose up slowly, unevenly, before tilting her head in my direction.

"Marionette," I said after a few moments of silence.

"In the flesh," she said with a little bow. "Have you been a good little girl while I was gone?"

"You can cut the act."

"Act?" she asked as she feigned surprise. "Why, I have no idea what you mean. The only act here is the one we're going to break into pieces."

“Cut to the chase. Why are you here?”

“I did say I’d make a visit so that we could talk somewhere that wouldn’t just get us killed immediately. And, to be entirely blunt, I wanted to gather my evidence.” She reached between her back and the mannequin, ruffling around in what sounded like a storage compartment in the mannequin itself. With a flourish she tossed a manila envelope in my direction.

Catching it awkwardly, I peeked inside cautiously. To my surprise it wasn’t filled with something that would kill me—was anthrax even still in use?—but rather it looked like little more than a bunch of papers. Pulling one out gingerly, it turned out to be a photograph. A very poorly captured photograph of a screen, at that.

“What is this?” I asked in confusion. “A bunch of shitty pictures?”

“And some documents and typed up transcriptions. It’s everything I’ve gotten over the last two years about the group you’re after. Brewer? He kidnaps people and they’re never seen from again. Ever. Stigmata, the one you met in the woods? There are places in this state that are off-limits, and he makes sure that they stay that way. There were some guys up north running blackmarket guns a few weeks ago. They’re not there anymore,” she said in a rush. “There’s more, people who I’ve never seen but whose names have been mentioned. I don’t even know what they call themselves, what logo they have, anything.”

“So you were right,” I muttered to Void.

“People think I’m a monster, but that’s just because they aren’t seeing what’s hiding under their beds,” Marionette finished.

“How do we know we can trust this? Trust you?” I asked as I waved the envelope slightly. “That you aren’t just setting us up for your own gain?”

“Because,” she said haltingly, “they...took my sister.”

“...I’m sorry.”

“I’ve tried stalking them, stakeouts, paying people, threatening people… And no matter what I do, I can’t find where they took Sara.” Her voice was thick with emotion as she sat on the edge of the roof. “I thought he could help her, the doctors couldn’t no matter how much money I threw at them, and I thought that a medical tinker was my salvation. I don’t know why he didn’t take me too.”

The silence was heavy between us, and I barely caught what she said next with the thundering in my ears.

“It was my fault.”

I couldn’t help but hope that it was a coincidence, that the timelines couldn’t add up if I asked for more information, but I felt it in my gut that it had to be the same little girl. Was that why she hadn’t been able to hold on? Because she was sick?

And he’d done that to her anyways?

Fuck, was I supposed to tell her? Did she have hope that her sister could be found? Could I potentially destroy that?

“Alright, say we believe you. You’ve obviously got expectations. What do you want?”

“I want to help. I'm not a hero, but neither are you lot. All that matters is we aren't monsters like they are. We’re better than them. We do bad things for good reasons. Because we have to." She wasn’t looking at us as she talked, her voice muted and halting. Bitter. “Together we can bring them down, tear them apart from the inside out, and make sure no one goes through whatever they’re doing to people again.”

Biting my lip and sharing a glance with Void, I considered what she was asking for. While I wanted to argue with her calling us not heroes, I couldn’t help but look at my own actions lately. Killing street punks, almost killing Polaris, ignoring orders from heroes? I wasn’t some shiny badge wearing hero, patrolling the streets and signing autographs. And I wouldn’t ever be; it just wasn’t the kind of job that I was interested in.

I mean, I was trying to kill a man.

I had already killed.

And at the back of my mind I still had the nagging suspicion that things weren’t as they seemed with Void and Pushpin. Nothing they did felt like things I’d seen heroes do all over the country, all over the world really. Maybe they weren’t villains, but I wasn’t sure that I could label them as heroes.

The PRT certainly wouldn’t after we were done.

Swallowing my pride, that part of me that screamed that I didn't need the help, I held out a hand.

"Okay, Marionette. You want to wage a war? Then I'm in. On one condition."

"Which is?"

"Brewer is mine."

"I expected nothing less," she said with a slight trill. She took my hand then and it was surprisingly soft, the contact warm in contrast to the chill settling into my skin.


	17. Demons Inside Everyone 2.07

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kali has to make some difficult choices and finds that the past isn't done haunting her yet.

**Turn Your Eyes**   
_Demons Inside Everyone 2.07_

* * *

There’s always points in our lives where we wonder if we made the right choice. How would things be different if we’d done it a different way? It’s a staple of being human, but at the same time it’s almost useless. Over the length of my life I’d made plenty of decisions that I wondered if I should have. Wondered what could have been.

Right now I was wondering what the fuck I was thinking when I shook her hand as I stared at the luggage that Alex and Marionette were hauling into our house in the dead of night and under cover of a big U-Haul blocking any busybodies who might be looking.

Alex shut the truck as the fifth and final suitcase came out, and I watched it roll out of the driveway, steadily ignoring Marionette behind me. There was a chill creeping up my spine as I realized that we were going to have to unmask to each other. Jesus fuck I hadn’t thought this through at all.

“Pin will be back in five minutes,” Alex announced as they shut the door. They looked about as awkward as I felt as our eyes met. Or at least I thought they did. It was always hard to tell when they were wearing that helmet.

The silence stretched on, settling and lingering in my bones, and just before I was about to scream the door opened and shut again.

“So, I guess I’m here to start this off since none of you have,” Laura said with a tinge of exasperation. Taking center stage she took off the half-mask from her face, leaving the ponytail up, and shrugged. “Laura. If we’re gonna be working together, and staying together at least temporarily, we need to be open. Because this can’t work otherwise, and in the end we all share a goal.”

Leaning against the door, Alex took off their biker helmet. “Alex.”

Which, of course, left myself and Marionette. A strong part of me wanted to challenge her to reveal first, to not expose myself before she had, but I needed to do this. It was as much of a power move to reveal before her as to make her go first, I insisted to myself. Not that that made any of this any easier ultimately.

Shrugging off my hood and pulling off the mask, I leveled Marionette with a stare that I hoped was at least passable as bored. “Kali.” With any luck the tone would match the look.

Reaching behind her head, beneath the mane of dark hair sticking out, Marionette unclasped her mask and let it fall down around her neck. And I was instantly envious.

Her eyes were what jumped out to me the most, an almost glowing hazel color amidst the darkness of her hair and the fairness of her skin. Her lips were black, a look I could only ever dream of pulling off, and somehow complemented how pale she looked. She was, in a single word, far prettier than I could ever hope to be.

“Mary,” she said simply. Her voice was lacking that usual lilt that sent goosebumps along my arms, and I was less sure of how much of that was an act and how much of it was just her being passionate.

Or maybe she really was just insane.

“A pleasure,” I muttered.

“Oh, but it is. For me anyways,” she replied with a small laugh. “Now, I’m supposed to be meeting with a certain little would-be hero group tomorrow. You’re more than welcome to join me. Perhaps you’ve heard of them, since they’re local-ish? The Tag Team ring any bells, lovely?”

“Isn’t that the group of kids who’ve been vandalizing things for the last few months outside of a few spats with that joke villain? What was their name… Mullet?”

“Bullet,” Alex corrected me from his leaning post. “Think he’s in it for fun, doesn’t realize what he might be getting himself into.”

“Anyways, yeah, I actually met one of them a month ago. Tiger Lily. What do you need to meet with them for?”

“The very same one you just mentioned supposedly has dirt that I want. She linked me on one of the Black Boards to a message board full of hints about a shadow group in the state, and how the Protectorate aren’t doing anything about it. So her little group is working to fight the government or some shit.” She shrugged, so nonchalantly that it was almost impressive, before she continued. “Something tells me that it’s her board, or at least her info, given it disappeared immediately after I got a glance at it.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?” I asked with a frown.

“Very,” Laura chimed in. “That’s terrible OpSec. I guess they really are just kids.”

“Or it’s a trap.” I was surprised that Mary shared my concern. Point for her.

Hesitantly I spoke up. “So I’ll go with you. No point in putting all of our eggs in one basket, and if it is a trap they won’t be expecting you to have friends.” Not that I wanted to, but it would make the most sense since my powers were the quietest.

Or at least I was pretty sure they were. I still hadn’t seen Laura’s and I wasn’t about to ask.

Really, thinking about it, Mary’s and my own powers were kinda compatible in a way. We both worked best quietly, out of sight and out of mind, but had a way to go ‘loud’ as my dad would say. I could very vividly recall her throwing cinder blocks as if they were flails on at least one occasion before the news report cut off.

“Sure thing, sounds like a date.” Mary’s words snapped me out of my contemplation and for once I was proud that I could just shake my head and ignore the comment without blushing or being flustered. What was with capes around here and this fake flirting shit?

“Then we should all get to sleep. We’re going to have a long day tomorrow, it sounds like,” was all I said instead. There was no point in waiting for a reply, so I quickly scuttled off to my room, shutting the door quietly behind me. I could hear muffled voices for a few moments—probably getting Mary settled into the spare bedroom—but I tuned it out in favor of falling onto the bed.

The emotional stress was getting to me. I felt exhausted, drained, and I wasn’t sure how much of that was just from dealing with people.

As I drifted to sleep all I could wonder was if I was making the right choices.

* * *

_”Dad?” I asked in confusion, stepping forward hesitantly. “What are you doing here?”_

_“Watching you drown in your mistakes.”_

_“What? I’m not drowning.”_

_“Drowning in sins and failures. Disgusting.”_

_“Fuck you, dad.”_

_“You can stop calling me that. I have no children.”_

_“Bad habits die hard.”_

_“The only thing that needs to die is **you**.”_

_Before I could react he flew forward, hand at my neck, as oily smoke trailed off of his body and his eyes turned hauntingly red. My arms were suddenly bound by the smoke, my legs rooted in place in fear while his face melted in front of me._

_“I told you you were going to be mine forever, 24. My little pet project. Just think of everything we could do together. If only you weren’t. So. Stubborn.” Each word accompanied the grip on my neck getting tighter until my vision started turning grey and black. “A little punishment for being disobedient, that’s all.”_

_Brewer’s mask started bleeding an achingly familiar red._

And with a violent jerk I ripped myself out of his grasp and out of bed. Scrambling from the heap I had fallen into, pushing myself into a sitting position against the bed frame, I searched the room for him.

Darkness broken only by pale light from the impending dawn, my room lay undisturbed. I jerked as I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, my heart threatening to break my chest apart. Instinctively I coiled shadows from under the bed around my arms, pointed blades rippling along their lengths. But no matter how much my eyes searched, piercing through the gloom, I couldn’t find him.

Couldn’t find it. I needed…

Had to find him. Had to be safe. Had to have it.

Something was wrong. Broken. I could hear it, reverberating through the room. Something sick, gross, pathetic. The sound filled me with rage and disgust at the same time, a hint of shame at listening to it seeping into my gut like poison.

Covering my ears, I shoved my head into my knees to escape the noise. It had to stop. It needed to go away. Why wouldn’t it just STOP.

I flinched as a hand touched my shoulder, quickly followed by arms as a curtain of soft hair blanketed my face. Before I could think of how to react, before I could instinctively lash out at whoever had invaded and captured me, I found myself being pulled forward ever so slightly as a quiet voice whispered in my ear.

“It’ll be okay. You’re okay.”

A hand moved slowly between my shoulder blades. And with a jolt I realized that the sound, now muffled, was coming from me. With the realization it stopped and I broke all over again. I’d never sobbed into a stranger’s shoulder before, but there was no stopping it once I started. At least it wasn’t _him_.

How much time passed before I stopped I couldn’t have said, minutes feeling like they stretched out into hours, but when it did I’d already come back to my senses enough to know who was holding me. But by the time I was done I wasn’t in a position to push Mary away or untangle myself from her embrace.

She might have been evil, potentially insane, but I hadn’t been hugged or comforted in such a genuine feeling way in long enough that I just didn’t care at the moment. You never knew how much you needed something until you went without it and was given a taste of it. And like a woman lost in the dessert spotting an oasis, I drank it in greedily.

“Thanks,” I croaked out after a few minutes of being free from the sniffling. 

“Entirely my pleasure.”

“Why?”

“Because you needed it, obviously. Like, seriously, I got up to pee and I’ve never heard something more utterly pathetic sounding. And sometimes the only things that can comfort the broken are the other broken.” She seemed to hesitate for a moment before speaking again. “If you ever need to talk, I’ve got two ears. And some nice hugs for a cute girl.”

My only reply was a very ugly snort in defiance. She was wrong on all accounts there. But…

“I hoped the nightmares would get easier,” I said quietly. “And the cravings. It’s been a month and it’s in my nightmares, in my head, crawling under my skin constantly. I don’t know which is worse.”

“Mhmm.”

“I hate this.”

“Yeah, I imagine you do. I can let go if you’d like.”

“...I don’t know what I’d like,” I admitted. “Not being alone is nice but…”

“But at the same time it being from me isn’t what you’d prefer?”

“Yes. No. Maybe?” A sigh of exasperation escaped me. “You’re a villain.”

“Everyone’s a villain in their own way, Kali. Even the Triumvirate, I’m sure. The Protectorate certainly is. Just look at the lies they tell. Not that it offsets the good they do but, well, there’s things they could do better.”

“I guess. I think that I’d prefer the comfort regardless.” I tried to shrug, but it was awkward and mildly uncomfortable given our positions.

“I could hum you to sleep. I read once, though it might’ve been bullshit I suppose, that people sleep better when they’re not alone. It might’ve been from a guy who just wanted to lay with more girls. Never looked into it.”

“That’s weird.”

“Yeah, toxic masculinity does things to people.”

“I meant—nevermind.”

“Sleeping together? What, afraid the big bad villain is going to take away your virtue or something? I’m not a monster, Kali.”

“I can’t think straight.”

“Well, that’s good because straight is pretty boring to me.”

“Not what I meant!” I jabbed a finger into her side, not hard, but with enough pressure to let her know the jokes weren’t appreciated.

“Calm down there, Lyssa.”

Blinking in surprise at the reference, I shifted to look up at her face. She had her eyes closed, calmly just taking anything I threw at her, while holding onto me without actually crossing any boundaries. What kind of weird woman had I ended up working with? My resolve wavered all the same, however, and I gave in.

“Okay. This doesn’t mean anything.”

“Of course it doesn’t. You can comfort and be there for people without it having to be romance or sex.”

“Yeah. Right. No funny business,” I warned half-serious.

“I’m not evil, Kali. Now, if we could, my butt hurts from sitting on the floor like this and I think my leg fell asleep five minutes ago.”

Some awkward moments later, I let her pull my head against her neck as her hand rubbed my back again. As the humming started I felt my eyelids grow heavier, drawn down from the warmth and softness around me, and slowly I let myself fall back asleep.


	18. Demons Inside Everyone 2.08

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kali wakes up conflicted and we learn about the shadows haunting the state.

**Turn Your Eyes**   
_Demons Inside Everyone 2.08_

* * *

It had been months since I had last slept in a void, waking up after what felt like minutes or hours of nothingness—a blankness in my memory where I just stopped existing. Which made it all the more disorienting when I finally came to, my body warm and my head pressed against something smooth and soft that smelled faintly of lilacs. I could feel the morning light intruding through from the window and groggily decided to ignore it and enjoy this feeling of peace that I’d missed dearly.

A few moments passed before I came to my senses enough to register the slow, steady breathing against the top of my head. Which quickly turned into an awareness of the arms around my shoulders and the mesmerizing rhythm of a heartbeat that was not my own. My memory caught up to me as I cracked my eyes open a fraction. The curtain of dark hair was about as much of a giveaway as anything.

Mary. This was...a predicament, wasn’t it? On the one hand, I had just had the best sleep I’d had in arguably years. I was comfortable. And I liked it, the closeness, after years of being alone on all fronts. On the other hand, though, this was awkward and I could feel the panic beginning to set in. I didn’t know her, and what I did know about her left the possibility of her power up in the air.

There really was no other option except to wait for her to wake up, it seemed. As much as I wanted to freak out, to put distance between us, I had to recognize that there was a risk in being rash about it. I just had to think about how I would react in such a situation, with my power being what it was, to know that I had limited options.

What the hell had my life become? When had things gone so far afield that sleeping entangled with a supervillain was where I had landed?

The fact that I considered this an upside to my life lately was honestly just depressing.

Closing my eyes fully again, I couldn’t help but feel a weight settling in my stomach. Tonight things would go back to normal, and now that I’d had a taste of something better, I desperately wanted to not return to the nightmares.

My thoughts were interrupted by a small yawn and a subtle shift as Mary woke up. “How long have you been awake?” she asked after a moment.

“Few minutes.”

“Mhmm.” She paused, leaving an awkward silence, for a few moments. “Feeling better?”

“Honestly? Kinda. But this is weird.”

“If you say so.” She squeezed ever so slightly before she opened up her arms, jerking her head in an obvious ‘well go on then’ motion. Which was all I needed to roll out of bed and stretch.

Looking at anything except for her, I felt the bed shift as she got up. A heat was steadily creeping up my face with each step she took. My relief was cut short as she stopped at the door, however.

“Look, if you want to make this an ongoing arrangement, let me know. You weren’t the only one who it helped. Anyways, we should leave soon or we’ll miss the meeting, ‘kay?”

With that she opened the door and left, shutting it quietly behind her. The room was silent thereafter, though my thoughts were very much not. If only I had time to untangle the mess of feelings bouncing around my head and the twisting knots in my stomach.

What the fuck was my life? Chasing after supervillains and shadow organizations, sleeping with villains, killing people and maiming others. Kicking myself off the bed and over to the mirror, I just stared at my reflection. My body had changed. My mind had changed. Everything had changed and I wasn’t sure if I was still me at the end of the day anymore.

Did I even want to be me anymore? Wasn’t that the whole reason I went after Brewer in the first place? To be different, to be better, to be more me than I had been. Was this just me now, for better or worse?

I mean, could the old me even do what needed to be done here? Doubting myself constantly, pulling away from what I was developing into, holding back from my own powers…

This was just me holding myself back from being the best me I could be because I was scared, wasn’t it?

Hell, how many times would I go over basically the same thing before I stuck to it? Was I just incapable of it, doomed to repeat the same failures over and over again? I hoped not.

Resting my head against the cold surface of the mirror, I let out a huff of a breath.

_Come on Kali, just fucking do it. Commit or you’ll never move forward. So what if you’re basically a villain, it’s not like the heroes get anything done anyways. They’re part of why your college degree means nothing, for fuck’s sake. You can actually do good. Remove this filth from the state. Stop people getting hurt for no reason other than for a cape to get his jollies off. She’s not even that bad, really. I mean, fuck, everything you’ve heard must have been sanitized by the heroes, doesn’t it? It’s not like the media will just report on things the heroes wouldn’t want out, right? Right? So fuck it. Go with the flow._

I could have screamed from how twisted I felt, how nervous I was. But progress, right? Yelling at yourself in the mirror was, like, a staple for character development or something, right?

Bullshit.

Treading out of my room, I made my way to the kitchen to throw together breakfast only to find Mary was apparently already on it. Pointedly ignoring her as I poured a bowl of cereal, I chose to pretend not to notice the glance she gave me, momentarily looking up from the grilled cheese she was making. Which smelled beyond fantastic, I grudgingly admitted. But as I sat down in front of my bowl I realized that I just wasn’t in the mood to eat. Either I was too anxious or something, but the more I looked at what was in front of me the more disgusted I felt.

“Get me when you’re ready,” I mumbled before shoving myself away from the offending sight and back to the safety of my room.

* * *

The best thing about this meeting was that we didn’t have to wait. I was quickly coming to realize that I absolutely despised waiting.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” a woman’s voice asked as we entered through the backdoor of a business complex. “Thought you were coming alone, Marionette.”

It was an accusation, and as I turned my head slightly I could see the glare leveled at us from behind a simple black domino mask underneath of a hood. The rest of her costume was easily summed up in a single word: punk. Honestly, we had a similar vibe going on with how simple and easy to blend into a crowd our costumes were. Or rather, the clothes we were using as costumes.

My gaze trailed down from the ripped jeans and well used running shoes to her shadow on the floor, however, as I felt something tugging at a deep part of my mind. It looked normal, no different from my own or Marionette’s, but my control over it felt… limited. Like something was blocking it, perhaps, or interfering in a way that I didn’t understand.

I let my eyes trail back up to meet her hard gaze, tilting my head every so slightly. I didn’t want to start something over something I didn’t even understand, but I definitely was not going to let my guard down around her.

“Calm down, Ragtag. It’s not like we didn’t come out as a group already. Long as they play nice, who really cares? And hey, Freeze got us pizza,” a voice I recognized but couldn’t place spoke up from further in the building, down the hallway past who I could only assume to be Ragtag. She shook her head, waving for us to lead the way. Not wanting to put her back to some villains, if I had to guess. Not that I blamed her.

The room we entered was like if you took a lunchroom and smashed it together with a living room, with chairs scattered haphazardly, a decent sized TV on one side, and a mini-kitchen on the other. College dorms looked more organized than this.

“Oh, hey, it’s you. What the hell are you doing here?” the voice I recognized broke out when I entered the room. Snapping my gaze to her, it clicked into place. Tiger Lily, the one who had given me this mask. And didn’t rat me out to the police during my first freak out.

“I’m her plus one,” I said with a jerk of my head towards Marionette. “We’ve very recently entered into an agreement while I… take care of some business.”

“So you’re the one who wants the info. Okay. Well, shit, I guess that makes sense then.”

“You know each other?” Ragtag spoke up as she practically shoved herself past me into the room.

“I mean, I wouldn’t call it knowing. Using my amazing talents at surveillance I happened to catch that she was a cape and gave her a little help with that mask.”

“That’s what you were doing when you fucking ditched me at Roma’s? Well, I guess I shouldn’t be mad. But that does raise some questions.” Ragtag turned to look at me, her gaze a little less hard. “So why her?”

“She’s got info I need and we share a common enemy.” I shrugged. “She’s also helped me out before.”

“If you say so. Okay, whatever, so let’s just get this over with. Freeze, get your ass in here!” There were several seconds of silence, followed by Marionette and I exchanging a confused look, before a new voice spoke up from the couch.

“I’ve been here the entire time, Rag…”

“Oh. I, uh, I didn’t see you over there. Sorry.”

“Can we just get this over with? The longer they’re here the longer they’ll have to stay before they can slip out unnoticed because of the lunch rush,” he replied in a tired voice. “And I’d rather not do that.”

“Yeah, right, okay,” Tiger Lily spoke up again, plopping down into a chair and looking at us. “Here’s the deal. This info is by mouth because it’s fucking spooky and I don’t trust putting it down anywhere. Electronics can be hacked and breached, paper can be burned or copied or stolen. Well, everything can be stolen more or less. But anyways, I don’t need this getting out and us becoming a target, y’know? Because this shit is spooky.” She glanced over at Ragtag before continuing. “We were going after these gunrunners recently. Trying to disrupt their operation and stuff, right? Cause we’re good at that and we don’t like how the PRT does things. All the suits talking the talk but getting in the way of the walk, yeah? So, these guys. Some capes, some normies, they just up and disappear off the radar one night. All their safe places torched, fucking burned straight to the ground, and jack shit of the people. Until a few days ago, when the bodies got found in the woods. Strung up, impaled — it was bad from what I’ve heard. All still in costume, all with a message carved into them. ‘Bow to The Makers’ in their skin.”

She bit her lip as her gaze fell to the floor in front of her. “These gunrunners were new. Nasty, of course, but they weren’t part of the established territories and stuff. I think this group, these Makers, are the same ones who have been behind all these disappearances and deaths and shit. Stigmata reports to someone, everyone knows that, but why would they keep the villains in line and send him after people? What are they doing that requires such secrecy that this is only the third time that the name has come up?”

“So much talk,” Marionette practically sang as she walked forward towards a chair. “But so little shits that I give. Tell me, little flower girl, what makes any of this worth our time?”

“Cause it’s info. The PRT has files on Stigmata and Brewer, on these Makers. They put a new department here specifically because of what’s going on. Things are going to hit the fan eventually. But you want at them first? I’m telling you what you need. You know how to draw them out. You know that they have a brutal response in place, you know that Stigmata is a way in. Look for him and you can find more, is what I’m saying. Stir shit and you can find more.”

“So you’re saying kick the nest?” I asked.

“I ain’t saying anything. What you do is on you.”

“I’ve certainly heard worse ideas,” Ragtag spoke up. “Just be aware that they’re fucking everywhere. And if you kick the nest the wrong way we’re still gonna try to stop you if you’re fucking shit up.”

“You can try,” Marionette said in a singsong voice. “I’d hate to have to get serious, though.” She swirled in place, her mannequin clacking, before she stopped with a finger at the stitch where her mouth was. “You know, maybe it’s about time I get serious.” Ragtag and Tiger Lily shared a glance. “Great idea, lovelies, I think I shall. It’s about time, really, who are we kidding?”

“I think we’re done here,” Ragtag spoke up. “You should go before someone sees you and starts asking questions.”

“Sure thing, luv. Ta-ta for now.”

As we headed back out through the hallway, however, Tiger Lily called out.

“Something’s happening a few blocks away,” she said urgently as she stopped at the entrance to the hall. “I can’t tell, there’s so much noise, but I don’t like what I’m hearing. There’s fighting breaking out right now. Will you help?”

Glancing at Marionette I saw her head tilt fractionally. Which was enough of an answer for me.

“Count us in.”


	19. Demons Inside Everyone Interlude: Void

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phase One begins as Alex takes to the surrounding areas to kick the hornet's nest.  
Gather intel? Check  
Find a target? Check.  
Be a badass? _Multi_ Check.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Character page following this chapter.

**Turn Your Eyes**   
_Demons Inside Everyone  
Alex_

* * *

It was a never ending cycle. One that they had dealt with over and over in the past. It was practically muscle memory at this point, an instinctive act, that they barely had to think about as they hopped rooftops with an ease. Something that they were confident all capes tried, regardless of their powers, at least once. Some ingrained impulse of being a cape, of being more than human, that probably ended in more than a few deaths.

So why did it still make their heart threaten to burst straight from their chest every time they stood on the edge? Why couldn't they stop stalling every so often, hesitating dangerously when they needed to be moving?

They knew it was easy, and somehow that just made it harder. But they shook their head anyways, like they always did, and took a deep breath.

_fuckfuckfuck_ they screamed mentally as they launched forward with a jerk that rattled their body. There was a flicker in Alex's sight as their stomach churned, before they came to a standing halt on the next rooftop, releasing their breath in a pant, and greedily sucking in more. They had to keep up the momentum. Running forward, they felt the violent tug before shooting off through the air, surrounded by nothing as sound disappeared except for the thundering of their heart in their ears, before they hit the next rooftop running, and the cycle restarted itself.

Shaking their head, Alex slowly unworked their jaw and stepped forward, forcing the air out of an area around them and using the resulting implosion into the void to fuel their forward momentum. Shooting across the town from rooftop to rooftop, followed only by the rushing and pops of vacuums being filled in their wake, they did their best to avoid people. The last thing they needed was to hurt someone that didn’t deserve it while they were laying the groundwork for everything.

It wasn’t every day that you tried to topple an empire by using the people against the incumbents, the long standing gangs and violence, after all. And having the masses turn against _themselves_ would be devastating to what Alex and Laura wanted to achieve. Not to mention they were pretty sure that Kali would bolt if they found out about the less obvious aspects of both of their powers.

It wasn’t like they chose the ability to cause pain. To have their entire worlds thrown upside down thanks to the lizard with a fetish for mass destruction. To lose everything because they weren’t important enough.

At least they were doing something with their power now.

They unclenched their jaw as they came to a stop on the side of a billboard, standing perpendicularly on the face of the local PRT Director. Or at least that’s what they assumed. All of those types generally looked the same. Bureaucracy at its finest.

How many people would the powers that be let die for not being important enough?

Too many, if they had to guess.

Looking around to get their bearings, and to catch their breath, Alex thought about what they were doing. The plan had never included getting local villains to work with them, but they had to admit that it had its advantages. More people meant more could be done, more information could be gathered and compiled, and that there would be one more person who might be able to help when that sick mind controlling bastard finally showed up to ruin everything like he always did. Hopefully they’d be cemented in place by then, this time, however. And that they could use the resources they’d gathered, the favors that were owed, to end this once and for all. It had to work, for Laura’s sake.

They needed to focus on the task at hand. The here and now. One of the first steps to taking down an embedded group was to overturn the status quo. Thanks to those small time heroes—if they could even be called that—they knew that doing so was going to come with severe risks for all of them. But they could disrupt the norm, the status quo, without seeming to on the surface. Which was what Alex was here to do.

They looked out from the billboard they had perched on towards a fairly rundown looking apartment complex. How many people inside were innocents was hard to say, but they knew that somewhere in there was a cape and some lackeys of a very small gang that helped push that Heartbeat shit. The Broods, as they called themselves, also terrorized the locals for protection money...or just for fun from time to time to get their jollies off. Certain proof that some people should never have power over others.

There was no telling exactly which cape it would be of the two, or if both would be present, but all of the local users came here for their fix if they weren’t meeting in some shady place out of sight in town. Parties were thrown occasionally, from what Alex had noticed, but on several of their watches one of the capes would leave for supplies before coming back. There didn’t seem to be a system for who it would be, no common days or times, but that wasn’t something that they expected from a hive of rats.

_Stop stalling,_ they had to remind themselves for the upteenth time as they moved their feet to the edge of the billboard. Bracing themselves against it, they launched themselves off and into the empty air between them and the building. Timing their breaths with their power, they shot across the open sky. In another life this could have been exhilarating. Not everyone got to basically fly, after all.

Not that that stopped the rising panic in their chest that threatened to drown them even as their feet touched the flat roof of the apartment building. The moment their feet touched down their forward momentum stopped—one of the few parts of their powers that they could use without panic setting in—and they transitioned into a casual walk towards the roof access door. Testing the handle, they found it unlocked and quietly let themselves in. While they didn’t know where their target was, experience told them to check the higher floors first. It was always that or the basements.

Why people felt the need to pick one or the other was a mystery. Perhaps it had to do with the intrigue, the callback to the old days, when speakeasies and the like had to hide during the prohibition era, and a sense of intrigue that came with being under ground level. Or perhaps it was that inner desire of every person to be better than they were, to reach for the skies, to take the phrase of being above your lessers literally. The innate wishes of man to take flight, perhaps, ignoring that most people would eventually come down faster than they could handle. Icarus syndrome, in a way.

Whatever the reasons were didn’t matter. At the end of the day, it all boiled down to one thing: Alex would be checking the upper floors first. This building was old, dingy—the stairwell didn’t even have proper lighting—so the odds of a basement area being big enough for drugs and parties and a hideout just didn’t seem reasonable. And the Broods just didn’t seem that smart to begin with. Who in their right mind would call themselves that anyways?

Not that Alex could say much when it came to names. They’d need to figure out one for themselves sooner than later, especially now that they were moving forward with the plan. Couldn’t let the PRT or the public make their names for them; that would be disastrous. It was rare that it happened, but they were distinctly aware of the possibility of the PRT calling someone they’d beaten or came out on top of something ridiculous like ‘Chute’. A group name would be even worse to have forced upon them, when it could mean so much for image and public perception.

And when you were playing with the stakes they were, those things mattered.

Stopping at the door to the top floor, they leaned against it in an attempt to hear any sounds echoing down the hallway on the other side. Nothing except the faint murmurs of a television calling out the weather report. As tempted as they were to pass by in search of an obvious hint, they needed to know for sure that this floor wasn’t holding their target.

Slowly they opened the door, slipping through the gap into a hallway that was only marginally better lit than the stairwell had been. A flickering light halfway down and the bags of trash outside of doors summed up their feelings and growing distaste, as did the worn and dirty carpet of the hallway itself. People living like this left a bad taste in their mouth, but there was nothing they could do about it. Especially not right now.

They kept their eyes and ears open for anything that might indicate the presence of Heartbeat or the Broods themselves as they walked. A vial or bottle, the sound of partying, anything really would be appreciated. The easier this was the better.

“You can stop right there, leathers,” the voice, distorted, commanded suddenly as Alex reached the halfway point in the hallway. “Thought we wouldn’t see you coming in or somethin’? Think we’re just dumb, maybe, or too busy partying? Cause you wouldn’t be wrong, but we’re still smart enough to have people watching for weird shit, yah?”

The voice was coming from a radio lying on top of a pile of garbage. Picking up the device, Alex cut all pretenses. Their cover was blown, obviously, and this would make it infinitely faster.

“One could hope.”

“Yeah, well, sorry to bust your balls but that ain’t happening. So why don’t you tell me what you’re after before I blow that entire floor apart.”

“That’s a big threat. Not worried you’d bring the PRT down on you for killing civvies?”

“Gas explosions happen all the time on their own. Ain’t nothing new around here. Quit stallin’, leathers.”

“Alright. Fine. I’m looking for the Broods and your Heartbeat.” Better to be upfront but vague. They weren’t lying this way, technically.

“Couldn’t just use the usual means, couldja? You’ll excuse me if I don’t trust you as far as I could blow ya.”

“Don’t need to trust me, chief. Drew never told me how to get in, just where he got his from. Did some looking, found you here. Don’t like front doors, if you catch my drift.”

“Drew sent you? Dumb fucker. I told him to stop doing that. What’s the point in a supply chain if people are skipping steps? Christ. Okay, just this once, you hear me? After this you go to Drew and stay the fuck out of my hair. Third floor, room 308. Try anything funny and we’ll gut you. You’ve got 5 minutes before the game comes on and I ain’t got the patience to miss the game.”

“I’ll be right down, I promise.”

The radio remained silent as they set it back down, turned around on their heels, and walked out of the hallway at an easy pace. That had been easier than expected. Wonderful when people actually cooperated with each other. The walk down was quiet — the building really did seem to be largely empty — before the sound of a TV broadcast hyping up a football game echoed through the third floor hallway. Room 308 was easy enough to find from there, even if they hadn’t known the number, and Alex opened the door slowly.

Inside were five men, only one in what could barely be called a costume, with two guns pointing towards the door. Pistols. Not surprising, but still bothersome. Behind them was the cape, lounging on a couch, with a metal case sitting next to him. 

Two guns, possibly more, and a cape with unknown powers. Not the best of circumstances to start trouble in. But they’d been through worse.

“Name.”

“Void. Yours, just so I know Drew wasn’t pulling my leg?” Gather intel. Always.

“Crashclaw. Money first and then you get your fix and you get the fuck out.”

“Unfortunately, that’s not quite what I’m here for…”

The room was relatively small, which was the one saving grace for the entire situation, as Alex dashed forward with his power. _Sorry for this,_ Alex thought as the aura extended forward, invisible and unstoppable. The men, mostly bunched together, crumpled in pain. The loose objects in the room, papers and cups and the like, were quickly picking up speed with each use of their power. Objects started frantically bashing into walls in an attempt at following the current of the vortex swirling around Alex. But none of that mattered, because Alex only needed to worry about one target right now: the cape.

Grabbing him in one hand, the case in the other, they blew out the window with a thought and an audible pop before anyone could recover from their aura. Out the window they went in a flurry, small objects ripping themselves out after them, and Alex quickly changed directions back up the building. Their feet flat on the side of the building, they shoved the cape against the wall as one might hold someone to the floor. The cape, screaming in pain, soon quieted as the pain vanished. Left with the realization of where they were, they clamped their mouth shut as Alex decided how to proceed.

“I can kill you here and now. Remember that. I let go, my grip slips, and you fall five stories onto stairs. Even if you live, you’ll wish you hadn’t, because I’ll be coming down and inflicting that pain on you again. And then I’ll actually use my powers on you. Understand?”

“You fucking crazy, man, but yeah I got it.”

“So here’s the deal, _Crashclaw_, you and your group? You’re mine now. And if you don’t follow what I say, I’ll be back. And next time, well, I won’t be so nice.”

“Okay, sure, whatever. Can you put me back inside now?”

“No. So, here’s the deal. No more drug dealing. You get a shipment in? You throw it all down the drain. Not the trash, not randomly in the street or woods. In a sink, down a toilet, I don’t care. But you get rid of it. All of it. And you stop harassing people for protection money when the only thing they need protection from is you and your stupid goons. Clear?”

“I mean, yeah, but that’s not really my call to make, boss. People we get that stuff from ain’t gonna be happy to not get their cut.”

“Then find a better way to get the money. Because if I trace sales back to you, I’m coming back. And I won’t be happy. And I’ll bring friends.”

“I’ll see what we can do, I guess. Not like I have a choice.”

“Good. Now go clean up your fucking mess.” With that Alex blew out a window next to them, roughly dragging the cape across the bricks of the building and stuffing him into the opening. Checking to make sure nothing was going to happen, they launched themselves off of the wall and back across the gap the way they’d come originally.

Their heart was hammering in their chest, but the mission had been a success so far. Only time would tell if the Broods played along or not, but there had been other people in the area. Word would spread, whether Crashclaw wanted it to or not. And that was the real end goal here, after all.

Fifteen minutes later, Alex sat down on a tree limb a few stories up and pulled out their phone. Pushing a few buttons, they held it up near their helmet as it started ringing.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Mission accomplished. I’ll be back in an hour or so. Almost at the truck. How’re things at the house?”

“Quiet. Kali and Mary haven’t been in touch for a while,” Laura’s voice echoed from the speaker. Soft, sweet, like a warm blanket on a cold night wrapping around them gently. What they imagined home sounded like.

“Think they got into trouble?”

“Knowing Kali? Probably. But there’s not been anything on the usual sources. Might just be a long meeting.”

“Mhmm. Well, if something comes up give me a call. I can gun it if needed.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine. Wouldn’t mind some quiet anyways. Been a long time since I was around a fireplace with real wood in it.” They could hear what was left unsaid in the statement, a stab of sadness driving into their chest at the memory echoing in the wound. Not their own memory.

“It’ll be different this time.”

“I know. I...I just—”

“Yeah, I know. I’ll be home in forty.”

“I thought you said an hour?”

“You need me.”

She didn’t try to argue the statement. They both knew it was true. “Just be safe.”

“Always, for you.”

Alex hung up the call, letting themselves fall off of the limb, launching themselves away from the tree with a sense of urgency before the choking, suffocating pressure could seep in.


	20. Demons Inside Everyone Character Page

**Turn Your Eyes**  
_Demons Inside Everyone Character List_  
The last arc’s character page can be found here, for anyone who needs a refresher of characters from it. [Arc 1 Character Page](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20640632/chapters/52760896#workskin)

**Beast**, Unknown, mentioned in Alex’s notes on the area and has a body count.

**Lifeline**, Name Unknown, Alex has been tracking her movements and is concerned about where she might be heading to. Got powers with Alex and Laura. Wants to bring everyone in the group together, described as erratic.

**Mesmer**, Name Unknown, Alex has also been tracking their movements and is highly concerned about their behavior. Got brainwashing powers at the same time Alex, Laura, and Lifeline triggered, and wants to kill Laura.

**Void**, Alex, controls air pressure in a radius around themselves, causes small objects to whip into a whirlwind around them when using their power, can use their power as a Mover ability to launch across large distances with controlled creations of vacuums while creating a pain aura in front of them in the process, and has the ability to attach their feet to any surface as if it were the ground while also stopping all momentum. Saved Kali and has gone out of their way to help her, but has a plan to run out various gangs and villains from the area.

**Pushpin**, Laura, powers currently unshown, has indicated having basic medical knowledge. 

**Marionette**, Mary, local villain who acts deranged. Master power of creating ethereal strings that can connect to objects and people and puppet them through the connection. Breaking the connection causes the victim to suffer as if a core part of themselves had been removed. Secretly after Brewer and his group for stealing her sister away, doesn’t know that her sister is probably dead. Secretly kind and caring and has taken a liking to Kali. Joined Kali, Alex, and Laura so that she could find her sister and take down Brewer’s operations.

**Stigmata**, Name Unknown, enforcer for the Makers. Cruel and apathetic, has the ability to cause victims to feel any physical effect he describes.

**Boost**, Name Unknown, Protectorate leader, very skittish. Doesn’t seem like leader material. Mover power, exact ability unshown.

**Pulsar**, Name Unknown, Protectorate hero. Powers not shown.

**Skedaddle**, Name Unknown, Protectorate hero. Tinker who fought Nilbog and changed, can compress things, including power effects, for great release or use at a later time.

**Unknown**, Name Unknown. Mysterious, spectral cape or minion that attacked a local school, summoning constructs and minions and lots and lots of fire. Disappeared suddenly after taking on Whisper, Boost, and Pulsar at once.

**Bullet**, Name Unknown, joke villain.

**Tiger Lily**, Name Unknown, independent hero with the Tag Team. Has enhanced senses.

**Ragtag**, Name Unknown, independent hero with the Tag Team. Powers unknown.

**Freeze Tag**, Name Unknown, independent hero with the Tag Team. Powers unknown.

I also want to take the time to share the wonderful art of Mary / Marionette done by the ever talented ElCuervo. 

As always, thank you lovelies so much for reading. And putting up with all the delays in posting. I can’t guarantee I’m picking up steam in things, but I’m trying.

Until then,  
<3 ~Ashley~ <3  
Aka Old Amsterdam


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